Never Will Be
by VampireQueenAkasha
Summary: TFA: Sequel to "Never Was". After their adventure on the strange alien planet, Shockwave struggles to understand why he feels an "illogical" bond to her; it creates a conflict that he has never experienced before. Red AlertXLong Arm/Shockwave
1. A New Start

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love _Never Was_ had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**A New Start**

_Cybertron_

Sentinel stood before the massive congregation.

Behind him were his cadets, awaiting their graduation. Sentinel waved at the congregation to get them to hush and the voices eventually died down. Sentinel smiled and gestured to the cadets behind him. He began to speak in a loud, proud voice.

"We had quite a rough ride, didn't we?" he told them.

The cadets all smiled with pride.

"Well, I never thought I'd see this day come, but we..." Sentinel continued.

Through the crowd stood Red Alert and Hot Shot. He scoffed and rolled his optics. "Sentinel enjoys the sound of his own voice a lot, doesn't he?" he muttered. He made a goofy gesture by twirling his finger joints in circles. "I normally just tune him out."

Red Alert laughed and shook her head. "How convenient," she said, "I usually do the same with you."

Hot Shot gave her a funny, indignant glare.

"When you hear your name, step forward," Sentinel told the cadets.

He began to read off the names of the cadets and they would step forward and receive honorary badges on their chests. He listed off several more until the only one who remained was Long Arm. When Sentinel called his name, Red Alert actually reacted and looked up, watching as the mech stepped forward to receive his badge from his superior officer. He was smiling and shaking Sentinel's hand before slowly sensing Red Alert's gaze on him.

She smiled and gave a small, acknowledging wave. He awkwardly returned the gesture with a half-smile before stepping back to join the line.

Red Alert chuckled softly before she glanced down at Hot Shot, sensing that he had his optics on her; he did and had folded his arms across his chest before giving her a skeptical frown. She shrugged her shoulders innocently at that.

"What?" she asked.

"I saw that." Hot Shot said.

She laughed cluelessly. "What are you-"

Hot Shot smirked smugly and arched a single optic ridge. "You LIKE HIM, don't you?"

Red Alert looked embarrassed and shook her head. "Wait, what?" she stammered, "I wasn't trying to. No! I was just..."

Hot Shot chuckled and shrugged his shoulders coolly. "Yeah, right, sure," he teased, making his voice into a low, goofy pitch, "And I'm a little Scraplet looking for a pile of sleeping Cybertronians." He started to push her by her shoulder as they made their way through the cheering, clapping crowd. "Come on, let's go before others start looking at you funny."

Red Alert scoffed. "When they're starting at the two of us, it's usually you."

"Nuance!" Hot Shot snapped.

O

After the ceremony, Red Alert went back to her duties. Of course, her new task proved to be less elegant that simply standing at a ceremony as she observed Jetfire and Jetstorm buzzing around the laboratory, happily chattering.

"Will the two of you calm yourselves?" she snapped, "You're making my logic circuits ache!" When she received no response to the demand, she sighed and looked at Wheeljack and Perceptor. "I would have to say that the test is successful..."

Jazz was lying on the floor beside her, rubbing his abdomen where the two twins had struck him earlier. "I'd say it was." he remarked, not even angry, but amused.

Wheeljack gave Red Alert a slight, half-eager pat on the shoulder to which she smiled at. "Without your skills in coordinating the data-merge, we'd have a much big issue on our hands than just hyper soldiers," he told her, "Excellent work, Red Alert."

Perceptor stepped forward and addressed the excited twins. "JETFIRE, JETSTORM. YOU WILL NEED TO RETURN TO YOUR POSTS." he told them, in his infamous monotone voice, "SPACE BRIDGE 662-024 WILL REQUIRE SURVEILLANCE."

Jetstorm laughed and gave him a salute before gesturing to his brother. "Brother, let's go!"

Jetfire grinned broadly. "A race then, brother?"

"A race it is!"

The twins bolted from the laboratory in inky streams of blue and orange, chatting the entire way down the corridors and narrowly missing various bots walking by them. A few of them angrily called after the two running Autobots.

Red Alert made a face and rolled her optics. "I suppose I'll be getting to my quarters for the orbital cycle." she told the two.

Wheeljack and Perceptor gave small nods of affirmation before she left.

Red Alert moved down the corridors before she paused and noticed Long Arm stepping out of the waste disposal sector. She tilted her head. "Long Arm?" she said.

The mech looked briefly in her direction and appeared to be unnerved by her presence for a brief moment before smiling. Though it appeared to be forced in some way. "Ah, hello. I was simply disposing of some useless garbage cluttering about," he told her, "Is there something that I can do for you?"

Red Alert chuckled and arched a brow at the polite offer, despite it being unnecessary. "Nothing. I was just going to welcome you to your Elite Guard post."

Long Arm seemed momentarily embarrassed by this kind gesture, but for a short nanoklick. "Oh...well, thank you," he said, "I appreciate the warm welcome."

"I ran into you many solar cycles ago and you seemed equally nervous," Red Alert laughed, "There's no one here you need to be worried about."

Just then, Hot Shot darted madly passed them, pausing once; breathless through his intake cycles. He looked absolutely terrified and glanced back with a sound of worry before looking at the two bemused Cybertronians standing there. "If anyone asks, I was never here!" he told them. He looked at Long Arm and gave him a quick nod of acknowledgment before bolting and calling over his shoulder. "No one can prove anything!"

Moments later as he disappeared, Brawn came charging down the corridor. He was covered in a suspicious brown goo and looked absolutely furious. "Hot Shot!" he bellowed in fury, "When I catch you, those pipes won't be the only things broken around here!"

Red Alert shook her head, watching Brawn disappear around the corner. Finally, she looked up at Long Arm. "I apologize for my friend's behavior," she told him, "You'll see a lot of that with Hot Shot. He's crazy, but he's got a good spark."

Long Arm smiled faintly and looked in the direction that the Autobots ran. "He reminds me of a fellow cadet in boot camp."

Red Alert chuckled before growing silent. She stood that way before she tilted her head thoughtfully up at Long Arm with an intrigued smile on her face. "You remind me of someone." she said.

Long Arm looked down at her with a mild glimmer of uncertainty that she missed, but was briefly broadcasted. He glanced at her from the sides of his optics and appeared to be smiling uneasily. "Really? And who might that be?" he asked.

Red Alert laughed somewhat, visibly in deep thought. "I don't know but...I feel like I've known you for many solar cycles."

Long Arm just smiled and shook his head. "Maybe we knew each other in another life."

"Hm." Red Alert looked thoughtful for a long time before she shrugged, brushing the feeling aside for now. "Well I have to be going," she told him, "If I'm not here early morning, Rodimus will make me run extra hours in the training grounds tomorrow."

Long Arm nodded his head. "I should go too."

They stood there rather awkwardly for a few moments more before departing with a few words of "bye".

O

Moonracer and Chromia were in her office.

Though their condition was less to be desired. They were both drinking shots of high-grade and laughing at one another. Red Alert brushed passed them and moved to her desk.

"I thought I told you two not to come in here overcharged again..." Red Alert snapped, putting her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, we had to come and find you after that BORING speech," Moonracer drawled.

Red Alert couldn't help but smile as she took a spot at her desk. "Well, Sentinel's long-running and long-winded," she remarked.

"Some bots can't help it." Chromia added, with a giggle.

Moonracer grinned and swirled her finger in her high-grade. "Hey, at least we got some cute new cadets in the party."

Red Alert gave her an admonishing look. "Moonracer!"

The two femmes giggled. "Oh, lighten up, Red Alert!" Chromia told her, "Have a drink!"

"I can't. I have work in the morning. Unlike you 'hardworking' ladies, I actually have something to do with my time."

They laughed again.

"Red Alert, you know you need a mech in your life." Chromia teased.

The medic rolled her optics. "Who needs a mech when I have two little sparklings around my office all day to keep me busy?"

Moonracer smirked slyly at her and leaned on her desk. "Oh, don't act like you haven't been checking out Long Arm lately."

Red Alert feigned nonchalance. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"There's nothing wrong with it," Chromia agreed, "He's kind of cute." Then, she paused thoughtfully. "In a weird... silent-broody-distant-kind of way. But still cute."

"I'm not listening to this. It's not proper." Red Alert said.

Moonracer laughed and patted her shoulders. "The best things in life never are!"

Red Alert gave her a skeptical glance.

"Drink?" Moonracer offered, holding out her cup of high-grade.

Red Alert sighed and took it, taking a sip. "If my processor hurts by the morning, it's your fault and I am going to put every bit of blame on you," she snapped.

Moonracer made kissing noises before taking a spot in a chair. "It's a new start for all of us, Red Alert!" she told the medic, "Don't you think it's time to celebrate?"

Red Alert actually smiled at that. "You believe so?"

"Sure!"

Red Alert took another drink and Chromia held up her cup. "I'll toast to that!" the blue femme said. "We need some new beginnings around here."

"You two are a bad influence on me..." Red Alert muttered, with amusement in her voice this time.

The two laughed.

While the three femmes were enjoying the evening together, Long Arm was actually standing in his office, staring down at the city below with an impassive look in his optics.

Then, through the shadows, his body shifted and formed into Shockwave.

"The fools..." he said, softly to himself.


	2. Pursuit of Happiness

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Pursuit of Happiness**

_Cybertron_

Long Arm sat alone on the bench, typing in rapid procession on a holographic pad.

Behind him, Sentinel Prime approached. "Long Arm!"

The mech turned, surprised by the volume of Sentinel's voice and attempted to look as impassive as possible. But then again, it was Sentinel. Nothing about him was subtle.

"Yes?" Long Arm questioned.

"Ultra Magnus wants you in his office right now," Sentinel told him. His features were grim and hard, he appeared to be angry about something, but surely it could not have been about him, "He asked me to take you there personally."

Long Arm frowned. "What for?"

"Just move it." Sentinel snapped.

Long Arm stood up and followed Sentinel into Fortress Maximus and was led to the office of Ultra Magnus. The old mech lifted his optics to Long Arm and he looked deeply troubled. Long Arm stood calmly, though he felt a sense of uncertainty. Surely they didn't catch on to his ruse immediately. He had been careful and taken every measure possible to avoid having them figure out who he really was. It couldn't have been about that.

"What seems to be the problem, Ultra Magnus?" Long Arm asked.

"Long Arm, it seems that our Head of Cybertron Intelligence, Highbrow has gone missing. We've searched every inch of Cybertron and were unable to locate him," Ultra Magnus told him with a glimmer of regret in his aged optics; then, he stood up, "We require someone to replace him immediately."

Sentinel groaned with disgust and thrust his hand in Long Arm's direction. "He's a graduate, sir!" he interrupted, "It's never happened before! No one's ever risen to the ranks that fast!"

Ultra Magnus gave him a look before turning attention back to Long Arm. "As I was saying, there is an empty position in the Intelligence department and we require someone who has excelled beyond expectations in his training," he continued, "Someone who has proven that he can accept the responsibility. I think we know who that mech is."

Long Arm looked surprised and gestured to himself. "Me, sir?"

"Yes, Long Arm. Will you accept this opportunity?"

Long Arm smiled and gave him a small bow of respect. "Of course, sir," he told him, "But if that is true, would I be known as a Prime?"

"Indeed you would."

Long Arm couldn't resist a smirk that he maintained hidden from the two. Behind his optics carried a cold, malicious gleam.

O

Today was the second day that he had nearly collided into her.

Red Alert had been rushing down the corridors like a madfemme, pushing a cart filled with medical supplies when she rounded the corner and collided it into Long Arm. He quickly grasped the cart and looked up at her with surprise.

"Red Alert?" he said, "What's your hurry?"

She took a few cycles of air and shook her head wildly. "Cheetor is in the infirmary and I have to hurry there, quickly!"

Long Arm nodded and stepped aside for her to pass. "Hurry off then."

He watched her rush down the corridor, angrily calling for Hot Shot in another room. "Hot Shot, make yourself useful and call Wheeljack!" she barked.

Moments later, Hot Shot came flying from the room and stopped when he saw Long Arm. He smiled dramatically and put his arm over the mech's shoulders. "Hey there, Long Arm; I heard about the promotion, congrats are in order."

Long Arm arched his optic ridges; was he supposed to be honored by such an acknowledgement from the little menace? "Thank you?"

"Yeah. So you know, fembots are really into mechs in high status," he told him. He leaned forward and grinned a goofy grin, bobbing his optic ridges up and down. "Hint, hint."

Long Arm knotted his brow, totally confused. "What are you talking about?"

Hot Shot laughed and shook his head, turning to face the Autobot now. "Come on, Long Arm; Red Alert's obviously got her optics locked on you," he told him, "And you're obviously...uh..." He made several hand gestures, attempting to find the right words before frowning, bemused. "Okay, you're pretty distant, but I know you like her."

Long Arm chuckled skeptically and shook his head, turning to go. "You don't know what you're talking about, Hot Shot."

Hot Shot laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, what do I know?" he teased, "She's only been my friend for millions of stellar cycles." He looked over his shoulders. "Oh scrap, gotta go before she comes back and starts swinging the prod at me."

He hurried off and Long Arm watched him go with a dismayed look before he too disappeared down the corridor to his new office. He took a moment to observe the pleasures of being in such a high position before closing his optics. His body folded and shifted into the towering form of Shockwave. He took a relieved sigh and walked to his desk, sitting before a monitor. He raised his talons to the keypad, but paused and looked down at a drawer in his desk.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, he opened the drawer and reached inside, removing an aged, crystalline lens. Memories filled his head of his entrapment on the alien planet with Hot Shot and Red Alert. His processor couldn't be rid of her accursed, haunting face. That sweet, calm look, even when she knew that he could kill her easily without hesitation. That final kiss that she had given him before he had rid her of her memories.

Shockwave placed the lens back into the desk and rummaged through it before removing a small pad. He pressed a button and the image of Red Alert appeared, a holographic security video of her graduating from her class of Protihex Medical Mechanical. She looked very happy and was shaking the hand of her teacher; a mech that Shockwave didn't care to remember. One of his sharp claws gently ran over Red Alert's holographic image.

Then, there was a knock on the front door. Shockwave quickly fitted the pad away into his desk before resuming the shape of Long Arm.

"Come in!" he said.

The door whooshed open and Red Alert stepped inside. Long Arm tensed behind his desk and momentarily let down his polite demeanor to an extent, even though he did not intend to do so. "Red Alert..." he said, particularly gruffly, "What do you want?"

Red Alert sighed, not catching his tone at first. "Sentinel wanted me to bring this to you," she told him, placing a holographic pad onto his desk.

"What is it?" Long Arm snapped, taking the pad.

Red Alert shrugged her shoulders. "He only said it was a list of scheduled tasks the Head of Intel would need to perform." she replied, "He was going on and on about it and pretty much tossed it into my hands."

"Why didn't he see fit to bring it to me himself?"

"He would have, but this is Sentinel we're talking about," Red Alert joked, "He's never one to do things himself when it involves delivering documented information." Then, the sound of his tone appeared to have finally caught up with her and she gestured to the door with a flirt of her head, a deeply troubled look on her face. "Is this a bad time for me to be here? I could always come back later if you'd rather me do that."

Long Arm shook his head and looked somewhat tired this time. "No, it's fine," he said, flatly, "It's important. Thank you for bringing it to me."

Red Alert gave him a nod and half smile before turning to leave.

"Red Alert?" Long Arm said, his voice somewhat more gentle this time.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Yes? What is it?"

He was quiet for a moment before shaking his head and waving his hand. "Nothing. It's nothing."

She nodded and walked out of the office.

Long Arm sighed and leaned back in his chair, shutting his optics in an attempt to calm himself from the raging storm of emotions surging through his mind. After a long, tense silence of attempting to clear his processor, he gave a furious snarl and swung his hand into a ornament on his desk, sending it flying into a wall and shattering to pieces.

O

The following day, Hot Shot, Brawn, Rodimus Prime, and Ironhide were in the middle of rigorous training.

"Hit those targets!" Rodimus shouted to his comrades, "They can come from any direction!"

Brawn grabbed a chunk of metal at his feet, just as several red targets popped up from the corners. He gave a fierce grunt of effort and flung the metal into them, cutting the targets down with ease. Hot Shot blurred passed him with a laugh.

"That still puts me ahead by seventeen points, old man!" he joked.

"Keep talking, dial face!" Brawn shouted back.

Hot Shot raised his torches and took shots at every single target that popped up in his way. He laughed with pride before his foot connected with a jagged rock and sent him flying into several other jagged rocks in the process. A large chunk landed directly on top of him. He moaned in pain beneath the rock. "Oh, my elbow. Oh, oh. I know I twisted something." he said, which was muffled.

Rodimus rushed to his aid and pulled the enormous rock off. "Hot Shot, are you okay?" he asked.

Hot Shot winced and stared down at his arm, which was sparking wildly beneath the tattered armor. "Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine." he muttered.

Rodimus shook his head with pity and looked over his shoulder. "Red Alert! We need some medical attention over here!"

Hot Shot looked up as Red Alert pulled up in her vehicle mode before transforming and shaking her head with disdain. She threw her arms in the air. "Oh Primus, Hot Shot. Your arm again?" she snapped, "That's five times already!"

"Relax, Red Alert," Hot Shot teased, when she bent down at his side and began to remove her tools, "You can call this the perk of your job."

She gave him a dirty look.

Long Arm observed the interaction from the window of a corridor. Alpha Trion walked by and noticed him before stopping. He walked up and cocked his head.

"Is something troubling you, Long Arm?" he asked.

"No." Long Arm said.

Alpha Trion smiled at him, leaning forward to see what he was looking at; Red Alert was gathering up her tools and appeared to be yelling at Hot Shot. He just chuckled and glanced sidelong at Long Arm. He seemed to understand now.

"Ah, it's Red Alert, isn't it?" he said.

Long Arm didn't respond.

"You have the opportunity to speak with her, why don't you?" Alpha Trion suggested.

Long Arm shook his head. "My work must come first, Alpha Trion," he reminded him.

"Yes, as always," Alpha Trion said, with a small, thoughtful sound, "But you are entitled to make yourself happy. The war is over, there is no reason not to seek out someone to care for you."

Long Arm cocked his head. "And that would be the normal thing to do?"

Alpha Trion laughed gently and gave him a funny look. "Normal?" he said, "If you have feelings for someone, it should not matter."

Long Arm watched him walk away for a long moment before staring back down at the training grounds where Red Alert was walking back toward the Fortress. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh through his intakes. His gaze turned hard.

_This is a mistake..._

Red Alert and Hot Shot were on the other end of the corridor and she was angrily chastising the smaller robot about something that Long Arm could not make out. He only assumed that it was because of the bot's arm constantly being broken. He started to approach them.

"Hot Shot, I can't help but feel that you have no need for arms!" Red Alert snapped, at the bot, "Considering you're always losing them!"

Hot Shot laughed. "Come on, Red Alert! You know you enjoy tending to me!"

She paused once before smacking him on the back of his head. Hot Shot winced with a low sound before he caught sight of Long Arm approaching. "Oh boy, here comes Mister Personality right now," he muttered, "Life's too short."

Long Arm smiled when he approached them. "Ah, hello Red Alert," he greeted, "May I have a word?" He glanced at Hot Shot. "Alone?"

She nodded her head with a smile of her own. "Of course," she said. She looked at Hot Shot. "Walk to Hook's office and he'll repair the rest of the damage. It's not too severe. You should be fine."

"Oh yeah, because it's not like I'm in agony or anything." Hot Shot muttered, walking off. He threw his good arm in the air. "Don't mind me!"

Red Alert watched him go with a skeptical grimace before she looked up at Long Arm. They missed sight of Rodimus watching them suspiciously.

Long Arm chuckled softly and shook his head, folding his arms behind his back. "Perhaps we could take the evening to a more suitable location," he suggested, raising his optic ridges thoughtfully, "Maybe we can arrange something for tonight. You know, to discuss important matters. My office, maybe?"

She looked surprised. "You mean...as a date?"

"If you wish to use that term, then I do not mind."

Rodimus folded his arms across his chest, frowning.

Red Alert smiled and nodded her head. "I'll have to clear up my schedule today, but I don't see that being a problem at all."

He brightened and pretended to be delighted with this knowledge. "Excellent! I will see you there!"

He gave her a respectable bow and walked off. Rodimus disappeared from the corridor before Red Alert could see him. He didn't like the idea of what was going on between the two; something felt...off. Rodimus didn't know what it was, but it just felt strange.

O

Shockwave was bored.

He hated the idea of waiting as much as the next Decepticon, but Red Alert had told him that her schedule needed to be cleared, so he had to expect that. Charming the female did give him a rather normal appearance among the others, so it had to be done regardless.

Still... something about it felt strange. Being so close to her made him feel at odds with himself. He didn't particularly enjoy the feeling either.

There was a knock at his door which interrupted his thoughts. He shifted back into Long Arm and stood up, approaching the door and opening it. She was standing there with a smile on her face.

"Well...I'm here." she said.

He smiled and stepped aside. "Come in."

Red Alert stepped into his office and took a spot in one of the chairs across from his desk. "I would have been here sooner, but my sparkling friends wouldn't give me a moment's peace."

"Ah," Long Arm murmured, chuckling.

Red Alert watched as he gathered some drinks. "So, what's the occasion?" she asked.

Long Arm smiled and offered her a drink before taking a spot behind his desk. "Can we simply talk and share a drink together?"

Red Alert chuckled and arched her optic ridges. "Oh, of course," she said, "But usually, there's something involved to get that to happen."

Long Arm took a sip of his drink before giving her a small smile. "Maybe this time, there isn't."

"Hm."

The two spent the time talking after that little exchange; Red Alert talked about her job and how tiring it would get sometimes.

"Long Arm?" she said, "Do you believe that sometimes prayers can be answered?"

Long Arm chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I don't know about prayers exactly, Red Alert," he replied, "But I believe that if we desire something strong enough, we can make things happen on our own. To take it if we truly need to."

Red Alert raised an optic ridge up at him. "And what does a mech like you want?"

Long Arm's optic ridges went up at the naivety of the question. Finally, he gave it some thought and was surprised to learn that he had no real answer for it; at least not the answer that he knew she'd want to hear. He smiled and uttered a gentle sound of amusement, paused and thought about her question before he looked at her.

"I don't really know," he told her.

Red Alert took another drink from her cup; it was almost empty.

"And what is it that YOU desire, Red Alert?"

The question caused her cheeks to slightly change color. It wasn't the question rather than the manner of which he had asked it of her. She didn't want to tell him her deepest desires because she just wasn't that open of a person sometimes.

"I don't know either sometimes," she said, leaning back in her chair, "There are times when I feel like everything that I'm doing will never change things." She chuckled somewhat. "Not that one person could ever change things on their own; but I wish that things could be different."

"Different?" Long Arm asked, "How so?"

"Like there was no war," Red Alert muttered, her optics suddenly filled with an intense sadness, "Or none of this 'he said, she said' nonsense. I've been at my job for many, many cycles now and nothing's changed. It's just the same stuff, different day."

Long Arm was silent, pondering her words.

Red Alert suddenly laughed quietly. "Ah, it's this drink," she said, embarrassed, "It's making me talk a bunch of nonsense. I should be happy for what I have."

"But you're not." Long Arm argued gently.

Red Alert stood up. "I don't think that really matters when you get right down to it." she said, forcing a smile on her face.

Long Arm stood up and looked outside briefly. "Hm... It is getting late I see. Perhaps you should return to your quarters for the evening. "

Red Alert smiled slightly to herself as approached the door. Hm. This had been a rather pleasant evening for her. It was good to relax sometimes and not worry about who'd be jumping down your throat. The drink was making her feel more relaxed also. It was nice.

She started to go.

"Have a pleasant evening, Red Alert," he told her.

"Thank you." she said. "And you too."

Long Arm watched her walk down the corridor. He looked over and noticed that Rodimus was standing nearby, watching him coldly. Long Arm regarded him silently before he turned and stepped back into his office. Rodimus continued to stand there, a scowl on his face.


	3. Strange Feelings

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Strange Feelings**

_Cybertron_

Red Alert sat with Moonracer and Chromia in the break hall at a table. They appeared to be engaged in conversation when Long Arm approached them.

"Hello, Red Alert," he said, "It's nice to see you again."

Red Alert looked up with a smile. "Oh. Hello."

"I was going to get a drink. Would you care to join me?" Long Arm asked.

Red Alert looked surprised by the offer and glanced at her two friends for some kind of approval. Maybe she didn't feel the need to abandon her friends without their okay as it would come off as rude to do so. They gestured for her to go ahead and grinned broadly before she looked up at Long Arm and smiled, nodding. She stood up and followed him and could hear the two females giggling and attempting to cover it up.

Long Arm purchased two Energon drinks; one for himself and Red Alert. He offered it to her and she chuckled and took it.

"You're buying my drinks for me now?" she said.

Long Arm shrugged his shoulders. "It's proper, isn't it?"

Red Alert smiled and took a drink. "Not even my old mechfriend did that for me."

Long Arm arched his brows. "Where is he now?"

Red Alert sighed and took a small smack of her lips. "Well, we decided to take it easy," she told him, "He served better being the head of our team than in a relationship shortly after he had his name changed when he graduated. And he was right. It was a mutual agreement between us and it worked out that we stayed better as friends than lovers."

Long Arm didn't reply and caught sight of Rodimus talking with Warpath. "I see..."

Red Alert chuckled and patted his shoulder. "You seem to be better company than anyone else I've spoke with," she told him.

"Surely you don't mean that..."

Red Alert shrugged her shoulders. "Well," she said, with a heavy sigh, "You can't imagine what it was like with him."

Long Arm arched his optic ridges. "Tell me. What was so horrible about him?"

"Well, actually nothing at first," Red Alert said, with a small chuckle, "When we were young bots, Rodimus was so..." She smiled and shook her head. "romantic. So passionate. It was his spontaneity and vibrant energy that I was attracted to. Everyone else around me was always so...organized, so scheduled and serious." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Like me, I guess. But Rodimus was so wonderfully different from everyone. And funny. He could always make me laugh."

Long Arm watched her intently the entire time. "And what happened to that?" he asked.

Red Alert looked somewhat sullen now. "Things just stopped being funny," she told him, "I wanted to graduate from the medical academy, he wanted to go about his own thing. We soon discovered that we were just too different for one another. The truth is, I didn't like who I was when I was with him. I would turn into this horrible person who would always yell when I had to and he would yell back and it just turned into a mess. So we agreed to go out separate ways."

"That seems to be the most logical thing to do." Long Arm replied.

Red Alert smiled and appeared to be lost in thought now. "But there was one thing that happened to me a long time ago during the war," she told him, "I wish to Primus I could remember him, but I couldn't even if I tried with every bit of me."

Long Arm's cup froze over his lips and he tensed before looking sidelong at her. "What do you mean?"

"There was someone I had met," Red Alert continued; she rubbed her forehead, "I can't see his face at all in my head, but I know that I met someone so many cycles ago who I felt this...odd connection to. A strange...feeling whenever I'd been near him. I just wish I could remember him and have the chance to speak to him."

Long Arm looked at her strangely. There seemed to be an uncomfortable way that he stared at her; as if he was troubled by her words. "Why would you want that?" he asked, his voice low.

Red Alert sighed and placed her now empty cup onto the counter. "It's foolish, I know; he may have met his end in the war anyway."

_You're looking at him, Red Alert; only he isn't who you think..._

O

Cliffjumper was silently working at his desk when he saw Long Arm approach. "Long Arm Prime, sir!" he greeted, with a salute.

Long Arm gave him a half-hearted gesture. "At ease." he said.

He entered his office and assumed the form of Shockwave before taking a spot behind his desk. He sat in front of his monitor screen and typed in a few keys before the image of Strika appeared. She sounded very displeased with him.

_"Shockwave! What do you have to report?"_ she demanded.

"No new elements have come to light, Strika," Shockwave told her, "I have told you before that it is dangerous to attempt to contact me during the beginning of each solar cycle. Lord Megatron has made no orders yet. We must remain diligent and on high alert."

Strika snorted with contempt and leaned closer to the screen. _"He has made no commands in over fifty solar cycles!" _she spat, _"The Autobots must have captured him by now!"_

"I hardly believe that." Shockwave told her, unimpressed.

Strika was clearly getting impatient with him, regardless of his opinion. _"I will not waste another nanosecond on this wretched excuse for a planet!" _she warned him, _"The longer we wait, the more time we could be spending claiming the space bridges!"_

"No one is to make a move until Lord Megatron commands it, is that understood?" Shockwave snapped.

_"Fine. But it is a waste of our time!" _Strika hissed.

Outside of his office, Red Alert was passing by before she paused and frowned, tilting her head at the sound of what she believed was Long Arm angrily yelling at someone. His voice sounded lower and much more menacing than usual.

"It is not a waste of time to exercise patience! You have your orders and I have mine. Learn to abide by them or there will be consequences, do you understand?"

Red Alert furrowed her brow and continued on.

O

The following cycle, Ultra Magnus gathered Rodimus' team in his office.

"You will be sent to space bridge station 687-030," he told them, "We have had recent Decepticon sightings in that area. The team that was sent there before you could use some backup if it is needed. You are after all some of the best we have."

Rodimus gave him a salute. "Of course, sir."

Ironhide looked excited and punched his fists. "I'm ready to smack some Decepticon skidplate around all the way to next cycle!"

Ultra Magnus didn't smile, but he seemed to approve of Ironhide's retort regardless. "Very well, you'll be sent there in 40 groons."

As they left the office, Hot Shot was eagerly punching his fists in the air. "Yeah, our first position at a space bridge station! Oh, I am so ready for this action!"

Brawn rolled his optics with a bored look on his face. "Yes, because nothing says action like watching a space bridge..." he muttered.

"I know, right!" Hot Shot said, missing the jibe.

Red Alert chuckled and shook her head. Then, she stopped and furrowed her brow, a thought crossing her mind. "Guys?" she said.

They stopped and looked back at her.

"What's the matter?" Rodimus asked.

"There's something I have to do first before we go," Red Alert told them, "I'll meet up with you at the shuttle bay in a few minutes."

They shrugged and nodded, starting to go. But Rodimus looked to be in deep thought. "Hurry back," he suggested.

Red Alert turned and walked back the way she had come. She found Long Arm in the hall in the middle of a conversation with Cliffjumper. When she stepped up, he glanced at her and his chest inhaled, seemingly in impatience.

"Hello, Long Arm," she said, "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course."

Red Alert glanced at Cliffjumper. "Alone?"

He shrugged and continued on his way down the corridors. Long Arm turned to her. Before she could speak first, he did instead. "I have just heard about your orders from Ultra Magnus," he said, with a small smile, "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Red Alert replied. "Though I feel...strange about taking the position."

_That_ notion was bizarre to him. "Strange?" he murmured, making an amused sound as if she had just said the strangest thing in the universe, "Why would you feel strange about it? They are your orders. You should abide by them."

Red Alert seemed to remember now the argument he was having with someone last night.

"I thought you said the same thing when I had passed your office the other night," she said.

Long Arm looked momentarily mortified by this, but only for a brief second. He spoke rigidly, yet still maintained a sense of calm, his optics suddenly as sharp as daggers. "Did you hear anything in particular the other night?" he asked.

"A little. You seemed angry with someone, so I just kept moving along."

He was relieved now and it clearly shone on his features. She hadn't heard anything about his orders or anything regarding Megatron. "Ah, well you had heard correctly. I was frustrated with a lesser subordinate, that's all," he said-it wasn't a _complete _lie either.

"Hm, I know the feeling," Red Alert said, chuckling slightly.

They were quiet for a moment before Moonracer and Chromia walked up to them. They had been watching the interaction for a while, playfully scheming before they decided to make a move on the two awkward Cybertronians.

"Hey, I just heard the news about your new mission, Red Alert. Congratulations!" Moonracer said, in a teasing sort of voice, "Before you go and take your leave, Chromia and I, well... We needed a little help that you two could probably give us."

Red Alert and Long Arm glanced at each other, bemused.

"Um, okay?" Red Alert said, sensing that Moonracer was up to something; she gave her a funny look, "I suppose I will do what I can."

Chromia and Moonracer chuckled at Long Arm's suspicious expression.

"Relax, Long Arm, it's nothing serious," Chromia assured him, "You see, Moonracer and I were having a debate about first kisses. I think it's okay for the first kiss to be more appropriate. THAT way it leaves the two of you guessing."

Moonracer laughed. "And I think it's okay to go all out if you really like someone."

Long Arm furrowed his brow. "I do hope this debate is leading to a point."

"Maybe you can show us which way is better, Red Alert?" Chromia suggested, with a very mischievous grin on her face.

Red Alert looked surprised. "With who?"

"Who do you think?" Moonracer teased, "You and Long Arm, of course!"

The two looked completely stunned by this.

"What?" Red Alert laughed, embarrassed, "No. We can't just-No."

Chromia grinned and put her arms around them both in a tight embrace. "Consider it a goodbye kiss," she teased, "The two of you were hitting it off pretty well these passed few cycles, so a little kiss won't hurt, now will it?"

They glanced at each other, clearly uncertain and uncomfortable.

"Come on, you two," Moonracer teased, "It's just us friends here."

Long Arm and Red Alert turned to face one another.

"Clearly they will never let us alone," Long Arm muttered.

Red Alert gave a nervous chuckle. "No."

Moonracer grinned. "Good. Okay. Alright, are the two of you ready?"

They gave half-hearted nods before Chromia and Moonracer grinned, watching them lean forward before their mouths connected. Long Arm had tilted his head slightly and closed his optics, leaning into the kiss. He kept his hands at his sides in a very awkward position, but soon found them reaching up and cupping her face.

Red Alert made a soft sigh and rested her hands against his. Long Arm wasn't sure why he felt the way he did next, but he wanted to continue the kiss for as long as he could. Something drew him to her and wanted to stay there.

And it wasn't long when they parted.

Red Alert looked somewhat dazed by the kiss and couldn't resist her smile. He awkwardly smiled back.

Moonracer and Chromia looked stunned to silence for a long time. Something about what they had just seen had not been expected by either one of them. They had figured a little kiss would be enough, but they had seen something more.

"Wow..." Moonracer said, impressed, "That was...that was great, Red Alert."

Long Arm looked slightly bemused by his own feelings and gave a weak nod to the two other females before looking down at Red Alert.

"Was that acceptable?" he asked.

She blinked once. Twice. "Um. Yes, yes that was."

Then, Rodimus and Brawn walked up, not noticing what had just transpired between the medic and the Intelligence Superior. "Hey Moonracer, Chromia," Rodimus greeted. He looked at Red Alert now. "Are you ready to go now?"

Red Alert blinked her dazed look away a few times before she nodded, watching Long Arm quickly walk away. "Yes, give me a moment." she told him.

She followed Long Arm as he started to make his way down the corridors.

"Long Arm?" she said, "Are you okay?"

He stopped and looked back at her, his face a mask of conflict. "I need you to leave now." he told her.

She stared at him quizzically. She didn't appear to be hurt by this, but more surprised.

Long Arm smiled weakly, reading her expression. "Please..."

Red Alert shrugged her shoulders, still very confused by his abrupt change in behavior. She still appeared not to be insulted by this after what they shared and nodded her head. "Okay, I suppose I'll be going now," she told him, "Goodbye, Long Arm."

He stood there and glanced helplessly back as he watched Team Athenia make their way in the opposite direction. It would be a while before he felt sane again.

O

Team Athenia arrived at space bridge 687-030 and went to work establishing connections.

Hot Shot poked his head in a room and grinned broadly. "I call this one!" he hollered.

Red Alert started working on setting up her medic station. Rodimus stepped inside and knocked on the doorway. She looked back at him briefly before smiling. "I'm almost set up here," she said, "Once we get connections up, we-"

"I needed to talk to you about something in confidence, Red Alert," Rodimus interrupted.

She paused and looked up at him curiously. "What is it?"

"I know there's something going on between you and Long Arm," Rodimus said, giving her a troubled look, "I just think that you need to watch out."

She laughed skeptically. "Is that you being concerned?"

"I'm serious."

She sensed his tone truly was and frowned, a little bit frustrated by his sudden change. "Excellent timing. Tell me, what brought on this sudden need to feel protective?" she snapped, "We've already established the fact that I can watch out for myself."

"I just...sense something off about him. Just be careful."

Red Alert sighed and turned to face him completely. "Will that be all, sir?" she asked him, calmly, "I have work to finish here."

Rodimus nodded. Red Alert always put priority first and did everything she could to avoid talking with him about their feelings that they may have had or their history together. Maybe she felt that there was no point.

Considering what they had decided, maybe there wasn't.


	4. The Last Blow

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**The Last Blow**

_Cybertron_

Many megacycles passed.

Hot Shot's optics were slowly closing.

He was getting tired while listening to Red Alert talking. She continued speaking about the conditions of the space bridge as well as the strain that Decepticon rebels were putting on the Elite Guard forces when she turned and noticed his drifting off and attempted to keep his optics open.

"Hot Shot, don't you act up right now," she said, sternly, "I am not in the mood for this. I cannot believe you arrived back here at your post late and then you start by... HOT SHOT! You are falling asleep again. I am talking to you."

Hot Shot blinked sleepily and laughed, gesturing to his own face. "I wasn't asleep, I was closing my optics and visualizing your words."

Red Alert put her hands on her hips. "Oh, really? You were visualizing?" she snapped, "Well, why don't you paint me a picture of what I just said."

Hot Shot shook his head and began to nod off again. "Hmm...I will..."

Red Alert scowled impatiently at him. "Okay. You can't paint me an image of what I had just said," she snapped. "Do you want to know why? Because you are falling asleep again. HOT SHOT!" She clapped her hands in his face to wake him up as he started dozing off. "Wake up!"

"I'm sorry!" he protested, jolting in his seat from her loud clap, "I've been on duty for several solar cycles. I need sleep!"

Red Alert sighed, feeling somewhat piteous for her friend. "Okay, I can sympathize," she murmured, "We've all been short on sleep for a while."

Then, Long Arm's face appeared on the screen in front of her. He spoke and addressed her much more professionally should the chance that Rodimus be standing nearby to hear them. It wouldn't be seen as professional. _"Hello, Medical Officer Red Alert?"_

Red Alert turned and smiled. "Hello, Long Arm Prime," she greeted, "It's good to see you."

Hot Shot banged his head on the table and Long Arm just laughed at the sight. _"I take it Hot Shot is still working as hard as ever?" _he said.

Red Alert laughed and Hot Shot waved his hand with a mocking murmur to follow, though he didn't put forth any effort to retort. He was just too tired to even consider it whatsoever. The gesture made Red Alert chuckle and shake her head.

"It's nice to hear from you, Long Arm," Red Alert said, turning her attention back to the screen, "It's been some time."

_"Yes, it has,"_ Long Arm replied, and he looked momentarily apologetic, _"I apologize, but things have been rather chaotic lately on my end. But today is going to be a good day."_

Red Alert smiled and arched her brows. "Really?"

_"I believe so, anyway," _Long Arm told her, smiling faintly, _"I just received a moment's reprieve and wanted to see how you were doing."_

"Can I please be shot now?" Hot Shot groaned with disgust at the interaction.

Red Alert ignored his jibe. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me, Long Arm." she joked, with a small , yet half-hearted laugh.

He shook his head with an equally amused smile, though his optics held a deeper meaning. _"That would be impossible, no matter how hard I try."_

"That's it, I would like to be shot now..." Hot Shot grumbled.

Just then, there was a high-pitched proximity alarm that sounded throughout the base. Hot Shot jolted with a loud shout of surprise and threw his hands in the air, moments before he was about to fall asleep again at the table.

"Ah! Sweet Primus above, I'm awake!" he shouted.

"That's the proximity alarm!" Red Alert told him, with a funny look.

The image on screen of Long Arm was replaced; it lit up with Rodimus' image now. He looked desperate and there was smoke billowing behind him. _"Hot Shot! We need you out here now! We got Decepticon movement near the bridge! Five of them!"_ he bellowed, _"Hurry up!"_

Hot Shot immediately rushed from the room, laughing in glee. "Finally some action!" he shouted.

Red Alert sighed and watched as he hovered by the doorway. "Hot Shot, I thought you just said you were too tired to work!"

"I am too tired to work, but Decepticon fighting isn't work!"

She rolled her optics when he disappeared out of the room and turned her attention back to the monitor, watching several Decepticon shapes appear. "Hah. That's progress." she muttered, "At least his mouth is working."

Outside in the battlefield, Strika, Spittor and Oil Slick made their way through the battlefield and Hot Shot streaked passed them in his vehicle mode. Oil Slick snarled with effort and skidded to a halt on his feet. Strika looked equally annoyed.

"Quite a fast little bug you are, Autobot!" she sneered.

Hot Shot laughed wildly. "Hey, Ironhide, what do you call a Decepticon with half a processor?" he spoke, though their link.

Ironhide sounded confused. "Uh, what?"

"Gifted!"

Strika and Oil Slick looked immediately annoyed by the jibe, but Spittor started laughing, a sick, dry-heaving sound to which Strika responded with a heavy slap across his face. Spittor gave a small grunt of pain and rubbed his cheek.

"They're talking about us, you idiot!" she spat.

Oil Slick glowered menacingly at Hot Shot. "Consider this the last cycle you ever take through your intakes!" he threatened.

Hot Shot laughed, as if it didn't faze him. Then, something suddenly dawned on him. "Hang on a nanoclick," he pondered, "Didn't Rodimus say there was five of you?"

A shadow cast over him and fired a shot and Hot Shot was sent flying through the air.

O

Red Alert had to dodge laser fire as she hurried through the battlefield toward Hot Shot's position. He was lying in the dirt, his leg sparking wildly from heavy damage. She didn't waste any effort with a retort when his life was at stake.

"Hang on, soldier, I'm coming!" she called.

She quickly transformed and knelt down, scanning the damages of his leg before looking at him gravely. Her hand transformed into a sharp, deadly-looking scalpel. "The damage is too severe to repair with conventional means, we need to amputate," she told him.

Hot Shot panicked. "Wait, what?" he exclaimed, "Could I get a second opinion here?"

A large shadow cast over them and suddenly, various tendrils wrapped around Red Alert's waist, yanking her with a yell from him and directly into Spittor's waiting jaws of his alternate form. After a few moments, he spat her right back out, completely covered in orange goo directly for Ironhide and Brawn. The female projectile burst in a small, but damaging explosion, taking each one of them out of commission. Rodimus watched the scene from atop the space bridge.

"Rodimus to Elite Guard! Do you copy?" he shouted, in his com-link, "Backup would really be appreciated right now!"

_"We're on our way, Rodimus," _Jazz's voice emerged through the link.

"Sir!" Rodimus protested, with a frustrated grunt, "We're going to need a grasp on the situation soon, we're sitting titanium ducks out here!"

Above him hovered an enormous dark gray shape of a flying vehicle that immediately transformed into the towering shape of the monstrous Blackout. Rodimus ducked and narrowly avoided being crushed as Blackout's body came down, sending a powerful shock wave surging through the entire station. It immediately shorted out the entire space bridge to which Strika immediately voiced her displeasure. While this was going on, Red Alert shakily staggered to her feet and attempted to gather Hot Shot up.

Oil Slick and Cyclonus towered over them with their weapons at the ready.

"Move and my friend here will cut you down to pieces so small, no one would ever recognize you again," Oil Slick threatened. When Red Alert glared defiantly at him, he smirked with challenge, "Do you want to try it? No. I didn't think so."

Red Alert looked back and noticed that Strika had the space bridge operational and it appeared that she was talking with someone. At this distance, Red Alert could not make out who she was speaking to. Her attention was diverted elsewhere, to Rodimus' frozen body riddled with cosmic rust. If she didn't get help for him soon, he would surely end up dead.

Just then, Strika turned to the others. "We await our orders from Megatron," she told them, half-heartedly, "Primus knows why. He's late enough as it is!"

"So what do we do with them?" Oil Slick asked, gesturing to Team Athenia.

"Shockwave mentioned doing nothing until Megatron arrives at our position," Strika said. She bent down and grabbed Hot Shot's head in a tight grip. "Though I would love the chance to squeeze you into a little greasy oil stain, little brat."

Hot Shot struggled to maintain his calm. "Aww, what a nice pick up line!" he sneered, "I bet you get all the guys you want, you fat tub of grease!"

Strika gave a snarl and tossed him through the air. He landed hard with a loud cry of pain and Red Alert quickly rushed to his side.

"Stop it!" she shouted.

The Decepticons laughed cruelly at the pathetic sight and Red Alert began to wonder if they were coming out of this alive.

O

Long Arm found Ultra Magnus alone.

"Long Arm," the elder said, turning toward a computer screen; he did not sense any trouble from the bot as of yet, "What is it?"

"I want you to reconsider your decision," Long Arm told him, flatly.

Ultra Magnus turned to face him, surprised by Long Arm's request. "You must be joking, Long Arm," he said, "We have evidence that discovers Wasp is not the traitor. There is a Cybertronian on this planet who had betrayed us and we will find him at any costs."

Long Arm sighed dramatically. "It's unfortunate that it's come to this, Ultra Magnus," he told him, "But I'm afraid that I cannot allow that."

Suddenly, he quickly transformed into Shockwave and raised his cannon arm, taking a shot directly at Ultra Magnus' chest. The elder flew backwards into the podium behind him and released the grip on his hammer. Shockwave chuckled softly as Ultra Magnus weakly attempted to make a grab for it. He moved it out of the mech's reach with his foot and bent down to him, grabbing his head in one tight grip and reaching for the hammer with the other.

"I've been wanting to do this to you for a long time, Ultra Magnus," Shockwave whispered wickedly. "You have no idea how long..."

Ultra Magnus' mouth began to bleed Energon. "Shock-Wave...What are you-" he groaned.

"You've become too old for this life, Magnus," Shockwave said, calmly, "Perhaps it's time to retire you permanently." He stood up and pressed his foot into Ultra Magnus' bleeding wound, drawing a groan of agony from the mech. Shockwave raised the hammer over his head. "Time to die!"

And he dropped it down directly on Ultra Magnus' chest.

A few moments later, Red Alert was standing over the broken body of Ultra Magnus.

Hook was working madly to keep Ultra Magnus' vital Energon lines from leaking and Team Athenia was overlooking the whole thing. Ironhide looked furious, Rodimus looked pained and Brawn looked enraged. Hot Shot was oddly quiet.

"How could this have happened?" Red Alert whispered, her voice haunted and filled with pain, "Who could have done this?"

Hook snorted gruffly. "No one's told you?" he snapped, quickly fixing Ultra Magnus' chest with a clamp. "That traitorous piece of metal Long Arm, that's who!" He didn't catch her horrified look. "Yeah, he was chummy with the Decepticons the whole fragging time! And we never-Hand me that tool!"

Red Alert snapped out of her haze before she passed him the tool. "Oh Primus..." she moaned.

Hot Shot looked sidelong at her with pity.

"What are his readings?" Hook asked her, not sympathetic to her visible pain.

Red Alert looked up and swallowed down a soft cry, studying Ultra Magnus' statistics. "He's lost a lot of Energon and his spark beats are very weak."

Hook snarled with effort. "Primus, I'm not going to lose him!"

O

Hot Shot still couldn't believe it.

"I don't get how we could have missed it!" he cried, taking a drink from his container, "He was lying to us this whole time! The whole slagging time!" He paused before glaring at Brawn and gesturing furiously with a finger jabbed in his direction. "And what are you, a tank?"

Brawn glowered at him with a growl.

"UGH!" Hot Shot muttered, tossing his container over his head.

Red Alert had been silent the entire time. But then, she took a soft, sad sigh and her voice was filled with a numb pain. "I never should have trusted him..."

"Hey, come on!" Hot Shot told her gently, "We were all duped here."

Rodimus leaned forward and took a spot beside her. She slightly flinched at his closeness, though did not know why. "Red Alert, I'm sorry he hurt you," he said, "But when we find him, I can promise you that won't happen again. He's going to pay for what he's done to Ultra Magnus...and to you."

"Don't." Red Alert said, giving him an angry look now. "I don't need anyone getting revenge for me. We have to focus on finding him for all of Cybertron. Don't forget that."

"Let's go now!" Ironhide declared, standing up, "Let's hunt the slagger down!"

Rodimus nodded in agreement and rose. "Yes. Let's go find him. For Cybertron."

Hot Shot smirked and clenched his fists. "Oh, you _know_ I'm in!"

They seemed to be more than ready to hunt down the traitor-all but Red Alert. She still appeared to look sick and numb to the whole idea. When she looked up at them, her face was a mixture of regret before she finally stood up and nodded.

"I'm in..."

They entered the streets of Cybertron in their vehicle modes, rushing down the streets and listening to the sounds of Sentinel's propaganda displayed on monitors and broadcast over radio transmissions. Red Alert didn't particularly enjoy it.

"This is a pile of sludge..." Hot Shot muttered, "Sentinel's the LAST choice for a leader I'd pick."

Red Alert's thoughts were elsewhere. "He was a Decepticon..." she said, softly, "A Decepticon and I actually...kissed him."

"You know, that's actually something I don't want to know about." Hot Shot told her, disgust in his voice.

Red Alert sighed and stopped at an intersection. "Okay, let's split up," she told the other Autobot, "That way, we can cover more ground. He couldn't have gotten too far after that attack on Ultra Magnus. If you see anything, don't engage him. Keep your line open."

"Aww, not even a tiny beating?" Hot Shot protested.

"Hot Shot..."

"Okay, okay, I get it. No beatings then." Hot Shot groaned. Then, when they parted ways and she was out of audio shot, he muttered under his breath. "But a verbal assault is well in order for that rotten, traitorous scrap pile."

_"Your line's still open, Hot Shot..." _Red Alert sent.

"Nuance!" Hot Shot snapped.

O

Red Alert drove for what felt like many groons until her tires were sore. She transformed and made her way slowly through a few back alleys with her weapon at the ready. She didn't sense the shadow behind her and a clawed hand clamped down over her mouth.

She gave a startled, muffled cry and attempted to fire off her weapon at the unseen enemy, but a hand grabbed her arm to prevent that. Red Alert struggled to see her attacker, but saw a flash of blue and gray and a glowing, single red eye glaring down at her.

"If you scream or attempt to contact your comrades at all, I will kill you." Shockwave threatened, "Do you understand?"

Red Alert nodded fiercely, showing that she understood.

"If I let my hand go, do you swear you won't scream?"

Again, she nodded.

After a moment of hesitation, Shockwave released her. Red Alert stepped away from him and looked at him long and hard before she spoke, her voice rigid and filled with agony. "You...it was you the whole time..." she whispered.

Shockwave nodded. "Yes..."

"So none of that was real?" she asked, her shoulders square and tense, "None of it?"

Shockwave shook his head. "Most of it had been a lie, I'm afraid. A lie by the orders of my Lord Megatron." he replied; he paused briefly before lowering his voice and she missed his quiet tone-the same that he had used in his office many cycles ago, "Most of it anyway..."

Red Alert felt her world spin. "Oh Primus..."

Shockwave was silent.

"So let me see if I can properly process all of this," Red Alert's voice began to change now and she sounded angry, "Everything you said to me; tricking me to feeling something for you. That was a lie too? Playing with the emotions of everyone around you and me was a part of your sick, twisted game too?"

"Hardly," Shockwave told her, with disdain. "I do not play in the game of emotions, Red Alert. I find it to be tiresome and it yields no proper results in the long run. What you felt for me was entirely something on your own."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your lies!" Red Alert spat, "You will NOT turn this around on me!"

Shockwave made a sound that almost resembled amusement. "Really? The Autobots themselves create lies to bend the truth so long as it works for them. Yes, I created a lie, but because you believed it, you found something true, didn't you?"

"No..." Red Alert said, shaking her head defiantly.

Shockwave tilted his head, as if her denial intrigued him. "No? I'm afraid you're not only lying to yourself, you're lying to me as well," he told her, "What was true in those cycles is still just as true now. What you felt before had nothing to do with manipulation or an act of sabotage. It had nothing to do with me. Your feelings came on your own."

Red Alert made a despairing sound. "No..."

Shockwave reached behind him and Red Alert tensed, aiming her weapon at his chest. He looked up at her and held up a single claw before holding up what looked like a disk. She frowned at him before suspiciously eying the object. Shockwave pressed it to the ground and lightly kicked it in her direction. Red Alert bent down to take it before studying it.

"What is this?" she asked.

Shockwave sighed. "The memories of that day."

"Memories?"

"Yes." Shockwave took a step forward and she backed up at the same time. He paused at that before continuing. "You don't remember that day because I made you forget, thinking it was in the best interest of us both. But I think you should see the truth for yourself."

Red Alert snorted bitterly. "How do I know it's not a Decepticon trick?"

"No. This is not."

Red Alert pocketed the disk in a leg compartment before she aimed her weapon at his chest. "I could pierce you through your spark right now."

"Considering the circumstances that have transpired these many cycles, your wretched hands already have," Shockwave said, calmly, "But you lack the conviction to do so. I can see you bleeding resolve, Red Alert. You can't do it."

She scowled and watched as he turned to go.

"If we should ever meet again, do reconsider your decision..." Shockwave told her.

Red Alert did the one thing she knew she'd regret.

She let him go.


	5. Lost Memories

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Lost Memories**

_Cybertron_

Red Alert spent several cycles madly going over the disk that Shockwave had presented her with.

She appeared to be watching a video feed through his gaze as most of what she was watching were recordings of herself and Hot Shot in an odd, organic forest. She furrowed her brow when the scenes came up of Shockwave saving her from an enormous creature. She watched in disbelief.

"Decepticons don't save Autobots..." she whispered to herself, "They NEVER have!"

Then, she watched as the scene changed and Shockwave appeared to be talking to her at a space bridge and Hot Shot was listening the entire time.

_"I have spent too long with you, Autobot. And it has done something negative to my systems. Something I cannot explain."_

_"Negative?"_

_"As clearly evidenced by my uncharacteristic behavior. Risking my own life to save you, an Autobot."_

On screen, Hot Shot looked deeply troubled. _"Shockwave, what you did out there was a good thing." _

_"Being trapped here with you for so long, I have obviously become infected by your Autobot influence,"_ Shockwave replied, _"Therefore, I have but one alternate solution left."_

On screen, the Red Alert and Hot Shot in the video seemed to be stunned by something and stepped back. Red Alert could see that Shockwave appeared to be holding a weapon directly at them because Hot Shot was now pointing his remaining torch at the Decepticon.

_"So, what?"_ he snapped, _"Are you gonna kill us for the sake of your pride?"_

_"No," _Shockwave said, _"This is a device that I have often used to scramble digital mainframes. While it won't kill you, it will simply erase your memories of what transpired here these past few days."_

Hot Shot scowled on screen. _"Come on!" _he protested, _"I thought you had changed."_

Shockwave was silent for a brief moment. _"This much is true. I have changed,"_ he said, in a soft voice, _"And now, I must pay the price."_

The Red Alert on screen nodded her head once. _"I understand."_ she said, quietly.

Meanwhile, Red Alert was watching this the entire time and her eyes widened somewhat. She heard a change in Shockwave's voice. Something that she had never heard before. This wasn't just a lie. What he spoke and how he spoke it; it was too real, even for a Decepticon. Finally, the video changed and Red Alert watched her video counterpart walk up to Shockwave and give him what she knew was a small kiss.

_"Farewell, Red Alert." _

Then, the screen went bright white and the video ended.

Red Alert removed the disk from the computer and her features were rigid with pain. She contemplated throwing it away, but instead, put it into a storage unit on her ankle. Just then, Rodimus entered her office.

"Red Alert, we have some good news!" he told her, with a smile.

She arched her brows gloomily and attempted to sound happy, but it didn't work. "I could go for some good news."

"Optimus Prime and his team have captured the Decepticon rebels!" Rodimus said; he still seemed excited, "They also have Megatron in custody! There's a ceremony going on in the Iacon Court! You have to hurry or you'll miss it!"

Red Alert smiled, though her eyes were filled with sadness. "No. Wouldn't want to miss that."

O

The Iacon court was alive with cheers and happy Autobots. Passing through the streets was Optimus Prime and the rest of his team including the cuffed forms of various Decepticon prisoners. Red Alert could see Shockwave among them, terribly damaged. Megatron was in worse condition than he was; his armor cracked in various places. Lugnut was also among them including three Cybertronian Protoforms.

Sentinel Prime was standing close by, glowering at the group and Red Alert caught this look. She knotted her brow before looking at Rodimus.

"Where's-" she began.

Hot Shot appeared behind her, cheering and whooping like an idiot. "Here! Have a drink, you scrapheaps!" he shouted, with a mocking laugh to follow as he flung his oil drink cup directly at Megatron. It struck the Decepticon leader in the head and Hot Shot yelled with glee. This also earned the contemptible laughter of those around him and it made Megatron snarl with indignant fury. "Whoo! Headshot! I am the mech!"

Red Alert gave him a foul look. "Do you want to know what's weird, Hot Shot?"

He shrugged. "What?"

"That we keep letting you out in public." Red Alert said.

Hot Shot laughed and waved that insult off. "Ah, come on!" he told her, "It's funny!" He bent down and picked up a stray lugnut before aiming it directly at Shockwave. "Hey! Watch me pop his royal traitor aft right in his one good eye!"

He started to throw it, but Red Alert immediately grabbed his arm. "_Enough_, Hot Shot," she said, sternly, "That's enough."

Rodimus caught this and his optics widened somewhat. He had not expected her to stop the action like that. "Red Alert, no one really cares what happens to them anyway," he told her, "They're just Decepticons and they're probably going to rot away in Trypticon Prison anyway."

"So that gives us a right to act like savages then and hit them when they're down?" Red Alert snapped, glaring at him.

"Not at all. I was just saying-" Rodimus began, stunned by her vehemence.

"If you think that this kind of behavior is funny, then how are we any better than they are?" Red Alert spat, releasing Hot Shot's arm and storming away.

Hot Shot groaned and followed her. "Aww, Red Alert, come on!" he insisted, "We were just having fun, that's all." When she huffed, he groaned and stopped. "Please, just stop. Don't do the storming away and the huffing thing you do."

She sighed and stopped walking, turning to look at him. "I need to go to Trypticon Prison, Hot Shot," she told him, "I need to talk to Shockwave."

Hot Shot's optics widened. "Whoa, wait a minute!" he cried, moving so that he walked in front of her, backing up with every step that she took to avoid having her walk into him, "Let's just freeze frame the crazy for a second! You know that is a bad idea! He's a liar and a killer! He killed Blurr, Highbrow and possibly many others!" He groaned when she didn't stop walking. "Red Alert, please! That purple whatchamacallit is trying to kill you and quite frankly, I wish you'd stop because I don't want to bump into anything!"

Red Alert sighed and actually stopped this time. "Hot Shot, I need to do this."

"Why?" Hot Shot insisted, "Why do you have to?"

"Because Shockwave had ever opportunity to kill me," Red Alert told him, "And I know I would not have been as much of a challenge as the others. He could have killed me at any time, and he didn't. He also showed me this." Hot Shot watched as she reached into her storage compartment and handed him the disk. "This applies to you as well. He gave it to me and it shows us during the Great War. All three of us."

Hot Shot blinked, shocked. "Wait, he gave this to you just like that?"

"Yeah."

"So if he did, then that means you would have had to have been talking to him, but that would also mean you'd..." Hot Shot said. Realization suddenly lit his face and his optics widened in horror. "Oh Red Alert, this is bad. This is very bad."

"Which is why you can't tell Rodimus," Red Alert said, sternly, "Because I need to know myself and he won't give me the chance."

Hot Shot looked at her helplessly. "Okay."

"Good. Now I have to go."

Hot Shot watched as she transformed and quickly drove away around the street corner. He continued to stand there, worry and concern for her safety in his optics. He stared down at the disk in his hands and curiosity replaced these feelings.

O

Trypticon Prison was the premiere Autobot detention facility on Cybertron. It had unsettling, towering spires and glowing, aciding pools of blue below the great bridge to the prison. Red Alert drove silently up to the checkpoint. Two guards donned in red, thick protective armor stood there, scowling when they saw her.

"You are not permitted to cross these borders, medic," one of them snapped, "Turn back now."

Red Alert transformed back to robot form and stared at them skeptically. "I happen to function under the command of Rodimus Prime. I am here on a possible Intel mission. Or would you like for me to contact your superior and inform him of how rudely I was treated?"

The two guards wavered and glanced at each other; they apparently did not enjoy the idea of losing their jobs over a mishap like this, so they stepped aside.

"This way then..." the other snapped.

Red Alert was led into the prison where she was met up with the warden, former Autobot general Rhinox. He towered over her with thick brown and gray armor that seemed to fold into that of a beast shifter. He had decorated marks across his chest and a worn Autobot logo on his chest. His features were gruff and aged and he had jagged spikes in his mouth and he had an enormous cannon armed in his wrist. When he spoke, he had a bizarre, thick accent; he must have been from another far off part of Cybertron.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

"I'm here to speak with the new prisoner who arrived a few moments ago," she told him.

"Really?" Rhinox said, taking a disgusting spit off to the side. "Who might that be?"

Red Alert stood straight and calm. "Shockwave."

Rhinox let out a gruff laugh. "Shockwave. You wanna talk with him, eh?" he muttered, amused. Then, his amusement disappeared and he looked somewhat suspicious now. "Why would an Autobot need to talk with the likes of that scrap?"

"Because I was used by him in a more personal way," she said, sternly.

Rhinox's brows went up. He actually looked a bit more surprised and less vulgar this time. "Ah. I see. All right then. I'll take you to him."

Red Alert nodded and followed Rhinox and the two prison guards through the corridors. Rhinox made it his point to indicate several areas where sentry turrets were and laser traps should anyone be foolish enough to try and escape. He even showed her a trap at the front doors that if the computer program read a Decepticon signal, there would be blade traps to cut them down to size. It was a horrible trap to which Red Alert voiced her displeasure.

"Horrible?" Rhinox laughed, "You can't be serious. These are Decepticons. Who cares if it's horrible to them?"

Red Alert grimaced slightly.

"She's a medic, sir," one of the guards said, with a small chuckle, "Anything like that's going to look horrible to her."

Red Alert wasn't too pleased with being mocked like this, but fortunately it didn't linger as they entered cell block E-14. They passed several cells where Decepticons were being kept. Many of them took one look at Red Alert and started making cruel, sneering calls at her. Some whistled mockingly and others made nasty gestures through their cell. Rhinox bellowed to them to shut up and they just continued their nasty jeers.

"Shockwave's cell is this way," Rhinox told her, gesturing to a clear, heavily barred cell. "He's been quiet today."

They stepped up to the cell and noticed that Shockwave was sitting in his berth. Red Alert noticed that he had purple colors instead of the bluish gray that she had been familiar with. He was watching the ceiling before Rhinox spoke.

"Shockwave, you're in luck today," the warden sneered, "You have a visitor!"

Shockwave looked up and noticed Red Alert. He nodded briefly and Rhinox smirked down at Red Alert. "The slagger's going nowhere," he told her, "You do your business and get moving because quite frankly, I don't trust this."

Red Alert smiled. "You've been out of office too long, Rhinox," she said, "I have no reason to turn traitor."

Rhinox rolled his optics and snapped his fingers at the two guards and they walked away, leaving Red Alert and Shockwave alone. For a moment, they were silent and just stared at one another through the barrier of reinforced glass and lasers.

"Come over here, Shockwave," Red Alert said, sternly, "I'm not going to speak to you when you're all the way over there."

Shockwave made a contemptible sound. "You so arrogantly presume the right to make demands of me, Autobot," he said, in a caustic tone.

"Don't you play games with me," Red Alert snapped, "Come here."

A long moment of hesitation and Shockwave finally stood up. He grabbed a chair in his cell and pulled it up to the glass before taking a sitting position in front of her. He was silent and just stared up at her for a while before he finally spoke.

"I assume that you've seen the disk then." he said.

"Yes, I have," she replied, confusion lighting her features. She was silent before frowning. "You must have tampered with it somehow."

Shockwave shook his head. "I have no reason to tamper with my own recordings, Red Alert."

"So why did you show this to me? To gain some sort of hope that I'd take pity on your situation and use this to set you free?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"Because I felt that it was necessary."

"Oh, just like toying with my emotions?"

"Don't twist my words. That is not what I meant."

The two glared at each other for the longest time before Shockwave continued. "Let me put it this way, Red Alert," he told her, quietly, "I gave you that information to help you better understand my actions and reason for avoiding you."

Red Alert furrowed her brow.

"Your wretched image haunted me every waking cycle," he continued, "So if I were to simply tell you the truth; to relieve myself of that constant... pitiful and unpleasant burden, perhaps it would be an easy way to be rid of the problem."

Problem. She was a problem and nothing more.

"I don't believe that," Red Alert said, coldly, "You had every chance to kill me. But you didn't."

Shockwave shrugged his shoulders. "If I had killed you, someone was certainly bound to notice, especially that fool Rodimus Prime. You had closer connections than those I've killed before. It would have been more trouble than it was worth. Becoming involved with you was simply a necessary evil."

Something was odd about what he was saying. One minute he was close to confessing something personal, now he was acting as if it had all been for nothing. She knew there was more to it than this. When she had kissed him as Long Arm, she saw real emotion there. Real struggle and real pain. That could not have been so easily faked, not even for a master of disguise like the spy. She knew that he was covering his tracks.

"What's the problem with you, Shockwave?" she snapped, "You can't be honest? You chastise me in the alley and now you're just proving what a bigger hypocrite you really are."

"I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do." Shockwave said quietly.

"No. I don't."

"You do. The mission was too important for me. Now because of my foolish error in judgment, I have been left here to waste away." Shockwave told her, "It's folly to even consider it and I cannot allow to happen."

Red Alert blinked in surprise before she scowled. "I won't argue with you anymore!"

Shockwave sighed and stood up before he turned his back to her. "Red Alert, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore." he said, his weary voice carefully concealing the almost near pain in his words, "Goodbye."

Red Alert stared at his back for a long time before she shook her head. Her voice was distraught. "No. You don't get to do that, Shockwave," she said, sorrow-stricken, "You don't get to play with someone's emotions and hide away." When he did not respond, she gave a fierce shout and punched the side of the wall near his cell before furiously and tearfully screaming. "Hot Shot was right all along. They _all _were! You're nothing but a useless Decepticon and you deserve to die in here alone! And I hope you do! Because that's all you'll ever be good for! Useless trash!"

She walked away and Shockwave looked back slightly before he sighed and shut his optic.

_And this is why emotions are useless..._


	6. Delusions of Madness

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Delusions of Madness**

_Cybertron_

Many, many cycles ticked by of endless lack of recharge and happiness.

Red Alert was not the pleased, yet stern medic that she had once been before everything had happened. It was a blessing that most did not require her services because she was unhappy most of the time when she was working, which was unusual for her considering she took great pride in her work ethic. Rodimus had begun to notice a change in her behavior lately and this concerned him because she could usually shrug ANYTHING off. Anything.

Something had happened.

"Red Alert, you have to talk to me," he said, gently when he stepped into her office.

"I'd rather not, if you don't mind," she answered calmly. She didn't seem as dismal today, but frustrated more than anything.

Rodimus sighed and put one hand on his hip. "Red Alert, everyone's been talking about this lately," he said, "I've heard it especially from Moonracer."

"Not surprised."

He looked surprised by her tone before looking stern now. "Red Alert, we've finally seized Megatron. The LEADER of our enemies is sealed away in Trypticon Prison for all eternity if we have our say in the matter." He watched a flicker of light cross her optics, but disappear just as quickly as it came. He payed no mind to it. "Cybertron has never experienced a peace like this. Without their leader, the Decepticon rebels will either give up or fall. I would have thought that you'd be happy."

"I am." she said, with a little more of an edge to her voice.

"It's a bizarre way to express it."

Red Alert sighed impatiently. Her voice took on a low, frustrated tone again. "I really wish everyone would stop being so concerned about me," she snapped, "Let's move on and try to get passed all of this needless celebrating."

Rodimus squinted and tilted his head, studying her with a deep, thoughtful frown on his face. "Something happened..."

She shook her head and answered him entirely too quickly for the situation to be avoided anymore. "Nothing happened, Rodimus," she said, turning, "Let me do my job. I have delicate tests on these Energon samples to perform."

"No. Something happened between you and Long Arm," Rodimus argued, stepping around the table that she worked on so that he faced her completely, "Something else that you're not telling anyone."

"Maybe because I want to forget about it."

"I'm your friend, Red Alert. You can tell me whatever it is! If it's really THAT bad, we can handle it as we always have."

"I'd rather just forget about it. It's not important anymore."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

Red Alert looked up at him, reading the stern, yet deeply troubled look on her leader's face. She hesitated for the longest time, knowing that if she told him what had happened in the alley and at the prison, it would go bad for her. Very bad. But if she said nothing, Rodimus would grill her every waking cycle until she did. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't. But then she considered that maybe, given their history together, he wouldn't take it completely out of proportion.

"Okay, I'll tell you..." she said, placing her tools aside.

Rodimus smiled, satisfied and relieved.

Red Alert took a deep sigh before speaking. "When we searched for Shockwave, I found him in an alley-or rather, he found me," she told him, "And...we started talking."

"Talking? You were talking with him?" Rodimus exclaimed, like she had just shown up with horns coming out of her head like Unicron.

"Yes. He began to tell me some strange things, Rodimus," Red Alert continued, forcing herself to continue despite the shock on his face, "Things about how Hot Shot, myself and he'd been trapped on an organic planet during the war. We'd been there for a while and then we..." She didn't want to tell him _that _part, so instead she frowned up at Rodimus. "Is it true then? Were we really stuck on that planet?"

Rodimus frowned and nodded. "Yeah. You and Hot Shot were out there somewhere for quite a good while," he told her, "But I don't see how that's-"

Red Alert somehow felt a sense of relief in knowing that at least Shockwave hadn't lied about that.

"Wait, you mean you can't actually remember that?" Rodimus asked, surprised.

She shook her head.

"Why?" Rodimus asked, taking a step forward.

"Because Shockwave erased my memories of that day and in the alley, gave me a disk that contained information about it," she explained.

Rodimus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait, he gave you a-I can't believe you're telling me this!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "A Decepticon-especially Shockwave-would never do anything like this! And YOU should not have been talking to him at all! And going to Trypticon Prison of all things to have a little chat with him-" He watched her look up with a flash of alarm on her face and he sighed angrily. "Yeah, Hot Shot told me. You know that bot can't keep a secret."

Red Alert stood there, annoyed by the fact that she had missed that.

"So, can you please do my spark a favor and tell me what was the point in all of this before I go insane?" Rodimus demanded, nearly hysterical.

She had never seen him like this in a long time, not since they were younger and before he became known by his new name.

Red Alert stood as calmly as she could. "Shockwave was acting...rather strange," she told him, "Something... well..." She collected her thoughts and tried to sound as proper as she could. "When he was Long Arm, he appeared to avoid me a lot. I only came to learn later that he may have..."

Rodimus stared at her expectantly. "May have _what_?" he asked, in a sort of snapping tone.

She didn't reply and just looked at him with a pained expression on her face.

Rodimus' optics lit up with realization when he began to put two-and-two together; Long Arm had always talked about Red Alert. A lot. He didn't think much of it at the time, but now that he was, everything began to make sense. Considering how odd they were around each other and...

"Oh Primus, _are you kidding me_?" he nearly shouted.

"I wish I was..." Red Alert said, softly.

Rodimus began to laugh angrily and grabbed the sides of his head, turning around the room before looking at her again in desperation. "Please tell me this is just a horrible joke!" he begged, "Please tell me everything you're saying is just-"

"I'm not joking." Red Alert answered calmly.

"Have you been with him?" Rodimus asked, seriously now.

Red Alert furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"You're a medic, you know what I mean. Have you been with him? A Decepticon..."

Red Alert shook her head, not getting it at first. Then, her optics widened and she nearly blushed by the suggestive thought. "Wait...no! Oh, Primus, no!" she said, shaking her head wildly. "No. We haven't done anything like that! No. Of course not."

Rodimus actually looked relieved. "Good."

"Why is that even important?" she demanded, momentarily forgetting who she was addressing.

"Because if I knew that you'd been fraternizing with a Decepticon, I have no choice, Red Alert!" Rodimus told her, pointing at himself with despair in his optics, "I'll have to send you to prison. Is that what you want?"

She wavered a bit at the true, raw emotion in his optics. "N-No, of course not!"

Just then, Cliffjumper entered the room, interrupting the din. "Rodimus, sir, Sentinel's been-" He cut himself off when he saw them in their condition and his optics widened slightly. "Um, is this a bad time, commander? I can always-"

"No, no, it's fine." Rodimus said, resuming his professional persona, "What is it?"

"Sentinel needs you on the front immediately," Cliffjumper told him, "Apparently, there's been riot activity at Trypticon Prison. The whole place is going to go up if we don't get some kind of control over the situation. And now."

Rodimus' optics widened and he missed Red Alert's shocked look. "I'm on my way. Call the others." He started to go, but turned and gestured sternly to Red Alert. "You're to stay here until I say otherwise. And Red Alert?" He leaned forward and spoke severely. "That's an order."

She watched them leave and stood there, uncertain of what to do. She began to pace around the room, groaning.

"What do I do?" she whispered to herself, frustrated, "What in Primus' name do I do?" Then, she moaned and cast her gaze out of her window, to the distance. "I know..."

O

Hot Shot's optics went wide when he heard her plan. "Red Alert, are you malfunctioning or something?" he exclaimed.

Red Alert transformed and started to drive off, but Hot Shot transformed and gave chase.

"Hot Shot, don't try to stop me," she told him, "Just go back to the base."

"I can't stop you!" Hot Shot insisted, "Primus knows I've tried!"

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm going with you on this. Maybe on the way I can talk some sense into you, crazy woman! You're out of your processor!"

Red Alert sighed impatiently. "Fine. You can come with me."

The two drove down the streets as fast as they could to reach Kaon. Hot Shot started chanting over and over again during the trip. "Red Alert's in trouble! Red Alert's in trouble!" he laughed, "Guess what? You are in trouble!"

Red Alert sighed skeptically. "You know, you're in trouble, too for following me."

Hot Shot laughed. "I'm _always _in trouble!"

After driving for what felt like many groons, they eventually stopped in front of the gates of the prison. They transformed and observed the eerie silence throughout the entire facility. There appeared to be some destruction as the blue acidic pools were leaking through the inside of the prison. Hot Shot's optics widened and he looked up to the front doors. Not guards were standing in their usual spot right now and he sighed.

"Oh, look at that. No one's home. I guess we can come back tomorrow." he said, turning.

Red Alert grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "Come on!" she snapped.

They slowly and cautiously made their way into the prison where they found it in complete disarray; there were scorch marks on the walls, laser holes and rubble everywhere. Hot Shot's optics went wide as he surveyed the damage.

"Red Alert, this is crazy!" he whispered fiercely, "We're in a place filled with Decepticon war criminals who outnumber us by the thousands! We need to go!" Then, a soft moaning sound filled the air and Hot Shot gasped before he grinned nervously and looked around. "Oh, and look at that. Apparently the prison's haunted. Can we go NOW?"

Red Alert looked toward the source of the sound and found Rhinox lying on the floor, his arm missing. Energon soaked his body and from the extensive damages done, she could tell that it was his. She performed a quick scan and realized that he had severe internal injuries.

"Your injuries are quite severe, General Rhinox," she told him, "We need to get you some help!"

Rhinox gritted his teeth and shook his head. "No. Get going. You need to get out of here." he hissed, with pain, "You can't be here."

"I can't leave you alone to die!" Red Alert insisted.

Rhinox chuckled weakly. "I won't go out like this," he told her, "You have to go. The Elite Guard...those little femmes won't last a nanosecond in here any longer."

Red Alert nodded her head. "Okay." She looked back at Hot Shot. "Let's go."

They immediately made their way deeper into the prison. Rhinox winced and shouted after them.

"Watch out for Beta!"

O

Shockwave watched from his cell as the blue acidic liquid began to pour into the prison. He gave an angry growl and turned to his cell door, throwing his weight into it over and over in a mad attempt to break the glass. It would not budge no matter how many attempts he made. If he had his cannon, the wretched door would not stand a chance.

Meanwhile, Red Alert and Hot Shot were making their way down the D block of the prison, slowly working toward Shockwave's position.

"Okay, so where is he?" Hot Shot muttered, skeptically.

"E block," Red Alert told him. "We need to-"

Suddenly, there was a loud, wicked laugh coming from around the corner.

"Oy! Au'obots!" came a thickly accented voice, "I smell ya'!"

"Oh Primus, that's Beta." Red Alert gasped, horrified, "We need to go!" She turned before looking at Hot Shot, noticing that he wasn't moving. "Hot Shot, what are you doing? We have to move! He's too big to take on on our own!"

"You go!" Hot Shot said, smirking and raising his torches, "Let's see if big boy likes it hot!"

Red Alert shook her head desperately. "No. No, you can't!"

"I can and I will!" Hot Shot laughed, "Get going. I'll hold him off."

Red Alert watched as the towering shape of Beta appeared around the corner. He was probably taller than Megatron himself and had jagged spikes along his back and arms. His armor folded away into a massive animal form that resembled a dragon from the Earth legends. He has a disgusting, cracked face with jagged teeth and a nasty under bite. He was decorated with unnatural gold and silver pieces as a crime boss often had.

She turned and ran.

"Ah-haha!" Beta snarled, staring down at Hot Shot, "What 'ave we 'ere?"

Hot Shot raised his torches. "A barbecue with your name on it!"

While Hot Shot was fending off Beta, Red Alert was sprinting madly through the corridors of empty cells. It sent her Energon freezing when she realized that many dangerous Decepticons were now free and roaming about. Though the corridor was completely deserted and littered with dead guards. She was on her own, that much was certain.

"Wait. Where was block E?" she whispered to herself.

She stopped at an intersection of corridors and began to call.

"Shockwave!" she shouted.

In his cell, Shockwave could hear her voice. His audios pricked up and he couldn't believe it.

"Red Alert?" he said, to himself. Then, he stood up and called as loud as he could for her to hear him. "RED ALERT!"

At the intersection, Red Alert was just about to go down a corridor when she heard his voice. She whirled in surprise and looked around. "Shockwave?" she called. She smiled, feeling her spark soar. The reason scared her, but she didn't focus on that right now. She raced down the corridor where she had heard him call. "Shockwave, keep calling for me!"

"I'm here!" he called.

She finally found his cell and smiled with relief. "Oh Primus, you're still alive," she said, with relief.

He shook his head, pressing his clawed hands to the glass. "Just what do you think you're doing, Red Alert?" he asked, too surprised to even argue.

"Coming to save you."

Shockwave didn't know how to respond for the longest time at that. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. "Are you sure that you're making the right decision?" he asked her, "I think that maybe we should stop before something terrible-"

Red Alert took a moment to cycle air. "Well, it's not really your decision, is it?" she said, turning, "Is there a key around here?"

Shockwave gestured to an office behind her. "One of the guards put the keycards to this block in there," he told her.

She went to work nearly ransacking the office until she pulled out a keycard and held it up to him. "Is this it?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes, that's the one."

She quickly went to work deactivating his cell and the doors slid open. He stepped out and flexed his arms before looking down at her. She smiled up at him and he didn't know what to make of this act of insanity.

"Thank you." he told her.

"I think I can trust you, Shockwave," Red Alert said.

"A horrible decision really." Shockwave replied.

She laughed weakly and shook her head. "I don't know why I'm doing this," she said, "I've never done something this crazy before in my life. It's a little scary, but for some reason...even though it makes no sense, I still trust this."

Shockwave was silent, contemplating what she said before he lifted his head. "We must go."

O

Shockwave and Red Alert made their way cautiously through the corridors of the prison. It was still considerably empty and they had to step over the bodies of the fallen on the way. Red Alert shuddered and closed her optics with despair.

"What happened here?" she asked, looking up at Shockwave.

"Beta happened," Shockwave explained, "He started a riot and took advantage of the situation. Everything spiraled down from there. The guards didn't stand a change against them, even with their weaponry in their servos."

Just then, Hot Shot contacted Red Alert through their link. _"Uh, Red Alert?"_

She was relieved to hear that he was okay. "Hot Shot, what happened with Beta?" she asked, "Are you okay?"

_"Oh yeah, I gave that fat tub of grease the slip. Wasn't that hard since he's slow as crude oil. Uh, but we may have another problem."_

Red Alert grimaced. "What is it?"

_"Uh...I may or may not have run into Rodimus on the way," _Hot Shot warned, _"And I may or may not have told him that you were here. And he may or may not be ready to blow a gasket." _He paused briefly. _"But, you know, mostly may."_

Red Alert sighed and shut her optics. Then, she opened them again. "Okay, meet me out at the space bridge at the transfer block. I have an idea."

_"I'm not going to like this, am I?" _Hot Shot griped.

"Just move it," Red Alert told him.

Shockwave tilted his head at her. "Why are you going through this trouble to save me?" he asked her, "You could be court-marshaled for this. Perhaps even worse."

She sighed and looked up at him. "I'm prepared to accept the consequences. I just don't care."

They stopped walking at the sight of rubble blocking the way.

"We need to find another way," Shockwave said, "If I had my cannon, I could easily blow through it."

Red Alert looked over her shoulder and her optics widened. "Um, Shockwave?"

Shockwave turned to see what caused her unease and he saw it too. The blue acidic fluid was pouring in through the walls, creeping toward them. He gestured toward a stairway and tugged her arm to follow him.

"Let's go!" he ordered.

The two surged up the steps, just as the blue, glowing liquid rushed up behind them. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, they were horrified to find that it was blocked by another locked door. Shockwave attempted to break it by shoving his weight against it.

"No! No, what do we do now?" Red Alert cried.

Shockwave gave a frustrated curse and kicked the door with every ounce of strength that he had. He looked back sharply at the sound of the acid slowly making its way up the stairs toward them. Red Alert frantically beat on the door and just when they thought there was no hope, Rhinox suddenly appeared on the other side, limping in his gait and clutching his chest. He didn't appear to see them until Red Alert frantically gestured to him.

"Wait! Rhinox, wait!" she cried, "Help us out of here, please!"

Rhinox stopped and looked back at them. He saw the two at the door and seemed to be hesitating, especially at the sight of the Decepticon. He turned and started to go again, but uttered a frustrated curse and rushed up to the gate.

"Back up a bit," he snapped.

The two stepped back as Rhinox approached the door and swiped his key card over the scanner. The door slid open and the two immediately stepped through. Red Alert smiled at Rhinox and patted his arm.

"Thank you, Rhinox." she said.

He sighed and shook his head, giving her a brief push. "Get going before I change my mind..." When they started rushing down the corridor that he had come from, Rhinox called after Red Alert. "Good luck to you, Autobot!" he shouted.


	7. World of Possibility

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**World of Possibility  
><strong>

_Cybertron_

The space bridge was alive with power when Shockwave and Red Alert arrived at it.

"Someone's already used it," Red Alert said, stunned.

She quickly scanned the coordinates and looked up at Shockwave. "Beta must have gone through."

"Then we go through as well," Shockwave told her.

"But we don't know where that is!" Red Alert insisted, "It could have been anywhere."

Shockwave nudged her aside. "Let me see..." He scanned the coordinates for a few moments before looking back at her. "Beta programmed the space bridge to take him to the colony planet of New Lucifer. It is meant as a safe haven for all Cybertronian life. We'll be fine there until I can hail Lord Megatron."

Red Alert felt herself tense at the mention of the Decepticon warlord's name, but knew that Shockwave was devoted to his leader. There was no way that he'd suddenly turn tail just because she believed he could. Then, she looked over her shoulder and noticed Hot Shot driving up to them. He quickly transformed and took a moment to cycle heavy gulps of air through his intakes. He looked up at them madly, shaking his head.

"There's a whole crowd of angry Decepticons on my butt!" he cried, "We need to go!" He noticed the space bridge and his optics grew wide. "Wait, what are you doing, Red Alert?"

"Through the space bridge, now!" she commanded.

Hot Shot's optics widened in disbelief before he scowled and pointed a finger at her. "You'd better put a please on that, woman."

"Don't make me repeat myself," Red Alert said, angrily, "Go now!"

Hot Shot gave a frightened yelp and threw his hands in the air. "Okay, I'm moving!" he snapped, giving her one final glare, "You crazy!"

He dove into the space bridge and Red Alert looked at Shockwave. "You too."

He watched her for a moment in silence before jumping through the ripple. Red Alert was about to follow but looked back at the sight of Rodimus rushing up from the prison's gates. His optics were wide in horror and disbelief.

"Red Alert, no!" he shouted.

She gave him a sorrowful smile of regret. "Forgive me..." she said, before jumping through the warp.

Rodimus made a mad dash for the portal. "No! Damn you, no!" he shrieked, trying to catch it before it closed.

Before he could dive through, it winked out of existence and Rodimus was sent tumbling across the ground in an ungraceful flurry of limbs. When he finally stopped, he looked up with a shocked expression on his face before he threw his fists in the air and screamed in raw fury. It practically echoed throughout Kaon and even further to the neighboring cities and town. The walls and windows of the buildings around him vibrated with his rage.

O

Hot Shot had landed in a pile of flowers.

He spat out a mouthful of them and looked up at the sight of Shockwave and Red Alert appearing over the hillside. There was a gentle wind that was blowing through the air and nothing like what he expected from imagining a Decepticon colony. He had the feeling that Shockwave was just as surprised as he too was looking around in silence. It was difficult to tell what he was thinking given his lack of a facial expression.

"Where are we?" Hot Shot snapped, "There's nothing here! Just a bunch of disgusting organic weeds!"

Shockwave cast his gaze around the grassy terrain. "I am certain this is the right place." he said.

Hot Shot scoffed mockingly. "Oh, you're certain?" he mocked. "Here, let me take a look." He moved in a circle, murmuring sardonically before glaring up at the Decepticon. "Guess what? There's nothing here, smart guy! NOTHING!"

Shockwave grabbed his jaw and forcefully turned his head in one direction. Hot Shot's optics bugged out in a goofy manner and he cast them down toward a small colony town below the hills. Shockwave released him and he blinked, rubbing his face.

"Wow, is there oil shake on my face." he said, surprised.

They walked down the hill and stepped into the colony. It was bustling with activity; many Cybertronians were in the middle of trading with others, some were in conversation and even younglings were rushing through the streets, happily playing together. The homes were makeshift huts and some appeared to be remains of old ships and space pods. Everyone seemed to be working happily together without a care in the world.

"This is weird," Hot Shot said.

Red Alert tilted her head. "What is it?"

"They're Autobots...and Decepticons," Hot Shot whispered, gesturing to the groups.

Shockwave and Red Alert looked through the crowd and began to realize that Hot Shot was right; many of the Cybertronians were wearing the marks of the separate factions, but appeared to be acting on a civil basis. Some were sharing jokes and laughing.

Hot Shot suddenly gave Red Alert a spooked look. "Great Primus, Red Alert, you've sent us into an alternate dimension!"

"No, you great twit," Shockwave snapped, "This is the right place." He paused and lifted his head. "Though I had not expected this. I heard stories of New Lucifer harboring refugees, but never had I imagined such a place for two factions to live together."

Suddenly, one of the Decepticons in the crowd stepped up and leveled his cannon at them. He was a flier and covered in battle scars, dressed in what looked like old, tattered brown rags over his broken metal body. He was dark violet in color and appeared to be built almost similar to Starscream. One of his optics was also cracked.

"Dreadwing?" Shockwave said.

Dreadwing snarled and pointed at him now. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here, Shockwave!" he spat.

Hot Shot laughed at that and raised a finger to correct him. "Technically, he doesn't have a face."

"Shut up, Autobot trash!" Dreadwing snarled. He looked at them. "How did you find this place anyway?"

Hot Shot smiled weakly and cleared his throat. "Well, one thing led to another; we broke a couple rules that may have us rot away for all eternity in darkness. But may I just say that for the record..." He tilted his head. "Hi. How ya' doin'?"

Dreadwing glowered menacingly at him. "You don't belong here and anyone who works for this slagger goes too!" he spat.

The argument was getting the attention of those around them because others began to stop what they were doing and whisper to each other cautiously. Red Alert sensed unrest and attempted to salvage the situation. She looked at Dreadwing and spoke as calmly and soothingly as she could.

"Listen, Dreadwing," she said, carefully, "We don't have to do this. We don't want trouble."

Dreadwing snarled at her and raised his weapon. "Shut your mouth you little-" he spat, raising his cannon to hit her with it.

Just then, someone moved fast from the crowd and Dreadwing was seized by the throat by a larger Cybertronian. The three including the crowd gasped in surprise. The mech was taller than Dreadwing and practically bone white. He was dressed in a long, billowing red cloak attacked to his chest with several rubbery tubes that looked like the decorations of a human king. He had a Decepticon symbol brandished on the glass of his chest and large, dangerous claws. His feet ended in jagged talons. But that face... He looked ancient, practically as old as Alpha Trion and had a thin metal bead on his chin and dark, practically blood-red optics. His face was ghostly gray and his helm ended in small horns.

"Drop...your...weapon," he ordered slowly. His voice was old, but filled with power. "Now."

Dreadwing gagged and eventually dropped his weapon to the ground.

The mech scrutinized Dreadwing for a moment. "Dreadwing. You have only arrived yesterday," he said, his voice as soft and yet, as icy as a snow storm, "But in this colony, and certainly this planet, I am the authority. Do you understand?"

Dreadwing gritted his fangs and nodded. "Yes...Lord Jhiaxus..."

The mech released him.

Shockwave reacted at the name. "Jhiaxus?" he said.

The mech-Jhiaxus turned and smiled at him. "Shockwave, my old apprentice. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Jhiaxus turned back to Dreadwing and the smile faded. "You know the laws I have set in stone, Dreadwing. Anyone is welcome here. This is a safe haven for the lost and the downtrodden; those who do not wish to be a part of the war or the hate." He gestured to Red Alert. "This female here as no doubt sought refuge with her comrades. And you want to treat her in such a savage and barbaric way no sooner had she arrived." His cold expression looked piteous and shamed now. "It's no wonder they hated us so much."

Dreadwing glared at Red Alert. "They provoked me!" he protested, in a pitiful, pouting way.

Jhiaxus leaned forward and spoke severely. "And _you_ provoked _me_, Dreadwing," he said, "You've disrupted the peace in my own home as well as those who look to me to protect them from this sort of thing." He sighed as if the concept disgusted him than angered him. Red Alert had never seen a Decepticon so controlled before. "I could snap you in half with one hand. But I will not. I have not." He tilted his head. "And why do you think that is, Dreadwing?"

Dreadwing smiled weakly. "Um..." he stammered, "B-Because you don't believe that will solve anything?"

Jhiaxus chuckled gently and regarded the mech with a look that a father would to his child. "Indeed. It won't." He took a deep breath and looked serious now. "You are an old Decepticon, Dreadwing. You have had many millenia to better yourself, yet you haven't. If this behavior persists, I will have no choice. You will no longer be welcome here. I will have to ask you to leave." He paused and watched Dreadwing groan in anguish at the thought. "Do I make myself clear, Dreadwing?"

The Decepticon jet nodded his head weakly. "Yes, my Lord..."

"Good." Jhiaxus turned and smiled, gesturing to Shockwave. "Come. We have much to talk about."

O

Jhiaxus' home had been constructed from a Decepticon warship.

When the three arrived, they were immediately welcomed by servants of many shapes and sizes. Some of those who passed through the chambers were tiny, metallic insects. One of them buzzed loudly in Hot Shot's face. He frowned and jerked his head back.

"Hey, cut it out." he protested, batting at it.

Jhiaxus chuckled gently and reached out, taking the metal insect. "Forgive my pets, they need a lesson in manners sometimes," he told him, "I don't have many guests come here, so they get excited to meet new company."

Hot Shot muttered under his breath. "I can't imagine why..."

"Hot Shot!" Red Alert scolded.

"No, it's quite all right," Jhiaxus said, with a gentle laugh, "I get that quite a lot, actually."

Shockwave gave Jhiaxus a cold stare through that single optic lens and the Leader of New Lucifer sensed that he needed to speak to him. Alone. He gathered a container filled with golden liquid-high grade, no doubt- and poured it into a cup before he looked at Red Alert and Hot Shot.

"Forgive me, but do you mind if I speak with my apprentice alone?" Jhiaxus asked them.

Red Alert smiled. "Of course, Lord Jhiaxus." She turned and grabbed Hot Shot by his side storage containers and began to drag him away.

He groaned in protest. "Aww, come on! I won't say anything! I'll be good, I promise!"

They disappeared from the ship's bay doors and Jhiaxus watched them go with a soft chuckle of amusement. "They are quite a charming group you have with you, Shockwave," he said. He paused, sensing something wrong because Shockwave was still silent. "Something troubles you, boy."

"You were my teacher, Jhiaxus," Shockwave said, softly, "You were one of the most feared Decepticon warlords in the galaxy. A tyrant, some called you. Others thought of you as a herald of Unicron himself. I do not see that anymore."

Jhiaxus placed his cup down and sighed. "I wanted to forget," he told him, "I've tried so hard to forget..."

"Why?" Shockwave asked.

Jhiaxus placed his hands on his desk. "I've grown weary of this war, Shockwave," he said, quietly, "We are all one in the same. Fighting for simple petty arguments seems to be a poor way of existing." He watched Shockwave's optic flash with restrained anger. "You know this as well as I do, Shockwave. I have had much taken from me since the time passed that you left my tower. I just can no longer live that life!"

"So what do I believe then?" Shockwave snapped, unsympathetic to Jhiaxus' pain, "That everything you had ever told me was a lie?"

Jhiaxus was silent before speaking again. "My mate was murdered before my eyes and my sparkling child raised by my enemy to hate her father. When I lost her too, I lost everything, my very reason for living." he said, his face a mask of rigid pain, "Do you know what that was like for me? To see my beloved killed in front of me, simply because she loved me? I dropped to my knees before my enemy, pleading for her life to be spared. I didn't care if it was weak in their eyes. I wanted her safe.

Despite what I have taught you in the past, emotions are not what makes us weak; it is what gives us the strength to fight. To give every ounce of what we are and even beyond that to see the ones you love safe." He chuckled softly at Shockwave's silence. "You never knew, did you? They never told you a thing about what became of me afterwards."

Shockwave didn't know what to say for once in his life.

Jhiaxus turned and looked out through his window to the flowery hills. "She loved flowers, Shockwave," he told him, "She traveled constantly to other planets hoping to find them; I always thought they were rather trivial. But with her, nothing was trivial. Despite what I was, she always loved me." He chuckled bitterly. "She was an Autobot, you know. Despite what they tell you, love between both factions is not impossible. We saw beyond our own prejudices and loved one another."

Shockwave couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"And this...Red Alert, she feels something for you." Jhiaxus changed the subject quickly. He turned and arched his optic ridges. "Do not pretend that she means nothing to you. I have been your mentor since you were a sparkling yourself."

Shockwave took a step forward. "You always taught me to see beyond personal feelings," he whispered with anger in his voice, "That emotions were purely for the weak and leaves you open to suffer only deep, terrible wounds."

"I told a lie," Jhiaxus said, gently and with sympathy in his gaze, "So it seems. And for that, I truly do apologize. You are still too young to understand why I taught you what I did, but-"

Shockwave shook his head. "To understand what? Betrayal?" he said, his voice as sharp as a knife, "All the work, all the rigorous training, all of the words? Every ounce of lies you've ever fed me? _FOR WHAT_?"

Jhiaxus sighed heavily with deep regret and put a servo on Shockwave's shoulder. "I taught you everything you need to survive, Shockwave. I only taught you those things so that you may never be surprised the way I was. Now, you must look to your spark. I know that Megatron is your God and that you will do everything to obey him. But know this, Shockwave. Even Gods can make mistakes once in a while."

Then, he turned and gathered his drink. "You and your friends are welcome to stay here in my home as long as you need..."

O

Hot Shot grinned and scented the air of the town.

"Ahh! Smell that, Red Alert?" he told her, "Take a deep breath through the olfactory sensors. Really let that seep in. What does that smell like to you? To me, I'm getting a green-brown smell with a hint of yellow. What about you?"

Red Alert chuckled and shook her head.

They picked up some oil drinks from a vendor in the street who looked like a mismatched jet. He had a Decepticon logo on his chest and a funny accent. One of his hands was missing, so when he offered it to them, they attempted to avoid staring.

"Here you go!" he told them.

Hot Shot chuckled weakly. "I'm uh, actually not very thirsty-" He winced when Red Alert kicked him beneath the vendor table and reluctantly took it. He looked up at the Decepticon carefully before scowling. "If this kills me, I'm coming back from the dead and shooting you in the aft."

The Decepticon actually laughed at that. "It'd be a slagging interesting fight."

Hot Shot knotted his brows and glanced at Red Alert before they both took a drink of their oil. No sooner had they started, they both doubled over with cries of pain and spat out their drink all over the street.

"Oh Primus that's horrible!" Hot Shot cried.

The Decepticon chuckled. "I suppose Autobots can't handle the good stuff, can they?" he teased.

Hot Shot grimaced and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth before the two continued walking through the town. "Hey, I have to know something, Red Alert," he told her, a little seriously now, "I don't see why we went through all this trouble for Cyclops the Femme Slayer."

"He has a name, Hot Shot," Red Alert chided gently.

"I know, I know," Hot Shot said, "But seriously, do you really got something for the guy?"

Red Alert arched her optic ridges and failed to notice Shockwave coming up through the crowd. He tilted his head at the conversation between them. When Hot Shot had asked the question, Red Alert hadn't responded.

"Hot Shot, that's personal," she told him.

"Yeah, I got a scratch on my aft," Hot Shot joked, "That's about as personal, but no one cares about that."

Hot Shot shrugged his shoulders and actually looked genuine. "Red Alert, I'm not gonna give you scrap this time," he assured her; his optics revealed truth, "I'm serious now. Do you really like Shockwave like that?"

Red Alert wavered a bit before Shockwave stepped up, giving her no chance to answer.

"What exactly are we discussing here?" he asked, in a rather biting tone.

Hot Shot laughed with glee and gestured to him. "Aaaaaaand speaking of scrap, it's you!" he broadcasted, in a dramatic voice, "Behold the great Decepticon freak-show, gorging himself on the aft of his mighty leader since before the Great War!"

Red Alert scowled at him. "Hot Shot." she warned.

Shockwave ignored him and looked down at Red Alert. "Jhiaxus is going to allow for us to remain here for as long as we need." he told her.

"How long do you think we need?" Red Alert asked him.

He turned and his voice dropped lower this time. "I don't know."

And with that, he walked away, leaving Red Alert to watch him go with a sad look on her face. Hot Shot looked up at her and then smiled sheepishly, holding up one finger.

"You know, we have to work on your mech skills..." he said, awkwardly.

O

Night fell over the planet and most of those in the colony had gathered before an enormous bonfire.

Red Alert had taken a spot beside Jhiaxus and they were engaging in conversation.

"You believe that there can be no hope for this universe, don't you?" he said, giving her a sad look.

Red Alert sighed and shook her head. "I wish I believed that was possible, but every time I see things change is always being for the worst." she told him, "No one can get over their fear, their hate and it's just going to destroy us all in the end."

Jhiaxus nodded his head gravely. "Yes. Sometimes a single voice can be difficult to hear over the roar of an angry storm. But I believe that in the end, good has a way of prevailing."

"How can you believe that?" Red Alert asked, carefully, "I mean, being a..."

"Decepticon?" Jhiaxus finished. He smiled warmly. "I had a choice to make, Red Alert. I met a wonderful female who showed me many things; that there was more to my existence than simply being a tyrant of war."

"Who was she?" Red Alert asked.

"The most wonderful being in the universe," Jhiaxus said, softly; his optics shimmered with emotion before it disappeared and he looked at her and gestured to the stars over their heads. "Have you ever truly loved something so beautiful that you couldn't bear to show it your own ugliness? The darkness that you keep inside? Have you ever been forced to watch as it withered and died before your eyes? Something truly precious that could only be innocence itself?"

Red Alert looked amazed. "Not like what you've felt, I imagine."

Jhiaxus chuckled. "You're too polite to an old fool like me."

Red Alert smiled slightly before it disappeared. "Sometimes I just wish it could stop," she said, quietly, "The fighting, I mean."

"It won't. As much as we want it to stop, it never will."

Red Alert watched as Shockwave moved through the crowds of Cybertronians. He appeared to have been stopped by a few younglings who tugged eagerly at his arms, laughing with glee and they seemed to want to play, but he gently rebuked them.

Jhiaxus watched the scene with amusement. "Shockwave's never been one to feel emotion for anything, Red Alert," he told the female, "Sometimes when he was a youngling himself, he would often hate those who had family because he felt that they were weak for their own happiness."

"Why?" Red Alert asked, surprised.

"Shockwave grew up under my care," Jhiaxus continued, "He was abandoned by his spark parents when he was just a small sparkling, no bigger than my hand." He chuckled weakly and gestured to his own clawed hand. "They believed that he was a flaw. Born without a face and even more so, without a voice for the longest time. Truly you can see in a prejudice world how much appearance would mean." He watched a stunned look cross her face. "The boy grew up with so much hatred that he would always harm others out of jealousy because they had everything while he had grown up with nothing. It took everything...all my skills as his mentor to breed him to be numb to those feelings. He confuses this for a way to teach him to be devoid of them entirely. I knew though that had he strayed down the path of blind hate, it would have destroyed him in time."

"I had no idea..." Red Alert whispered, stunned by this news.

Jhiaxus sighed and shook his head. "Shockwave was more than just a student to me, Red Alert. He was like my son, the child I had lost so long ago."

Red Alert nodded her head and watched as Shockwave took a seat near the fire. "Do you mind if I go and speak with him?" she asked.

Jhiaxus gestured with one hand. "Go on. I will be addressing the group shortly."

Red Alert stood up and stepped through the group before she took a spot beside Shockwave. He was taller than most of them so he easily stood out, despite his dark, purple body. He looked up when she sat down beside up.

"What were you and Jhiaxus talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, he was just talking about his past and everything he's had to deal with before coming here," Red Alert partially lied-well, it wasn't completely a lie, "But that's about all he had said. He seems rather nice."

Shockwave nodded, though he seemed to not half believe her.

"I see Hot Shot is behaving extra childish tonight..." he murmured.

They looked over in Hot Shot's direction and watched as he cheerfully played with several younglings who were rolling around in the dirt in a mad attempt to tickle him. He laughed wildly and grabbed some grass, holding it up to his head and making goofy animal sounds.

"Shockwave, may I ask you something?" Red Alert asked.

"Of course..."

She looked at him. "What do you think of this? I mean, Jhiaxus and his colony?"

"I don't like it."

"Why?"

Shockwave made a disgruntled sound. "When did I have to come to you for my feelings?"

She smirked playfully. "Ah, so you DO admit you have them!"

"Stop trying to contradict me." Shockwave sounded annoyed now.

"I'm not contradicting you, Shockwave," Red Alert looked genuinely serious now. "I want you to know that there is much more to life than hating one another." She paused and looked at him with a little more reluctance. "Do you hate me?"

He looked sharply down at her. "Of course I don't. Hatred is a worthless emotion."

"Emotion isn't worthless to have, you know," Red Alert said, gently, "You don't have to be afraid to show it."

"I am not afraid of anything."

Red Alert nodded insistently. "I know you're not, I'm just saying that it's-"

Jhiaxus stood up and raised his hands, gesturing for the group to pay mind to what he was going to say. "Good evening, my friends," he announced, "Let us give thanks to Primus for blessing us with the presence of these three young travelers." He gestured to Shockwave, Red Alert and Hot Shot. "I thought it time we had a little talk with one another, to properly understand out values and virtues. Are you all quite comfortable?" When they nodded and murmured, he smiled and gave Red Alert a small wink. "Then I'll shall begin..."

Things have always been the same, no matter how many millenia have passed. My, doesn't time fly? It seems like only yesterday that I waking up from my very first activation. I remember the day that they told me I was born into a wonderful world. I was told that my life would hold some meaning. That things would be perfect and I would find myself in a paradise all my own. Did I find that paradise? In a way, I suppose.

My spark father's first words to me, 'Primus, you've sent me a savior'. Now what do you suppose that meant? Was I meant to protect or destroy? Well, certainly you realize what path I took. It was not the righteous path. I took that path because it was expected of me. There was civil unrest between the people. Before the time of Decepticons or Autobots. When we were all one and the same and not separated by a simple symbol.

Yes, we have certainly come a long way since then, haven't we? But have we moved forward since then? No. We had become barbaric savages and for what the Decepticons stood for, they had perverted into something rotten; something foul and disgusting that only evil is born of. We stood for something and I watched in shame with every cycle of my remaining days ticking away since I abandoned Cybertron. Nothing was changing for the better. Nothing was turning around. We were trapped, my young friends. Trapped forever in our own storm of hate, ignorance and shame.

But...well, to be straight to the point, we've all had our share of problems. There's no getting away from it. Do you know what I think a lot of it comes from? No one wants to face up to any real responsibility. Everyone accepts these things because they feel that there is nothing going to change them. But to look at it so bluntly, no one seems to be trying. No. But when I met _her_... I knew that my way had to be changed. I was making the wrong decisions. I tried with every ounce of my being to change things, to make the world better FOR HER to live in. Not for me. Not for anyone else. But for her. For she was my whole universe.

And what about those who dared mock me for my attempts? It's always the innocent made to suffer despite all of that, as you're well aware. What was she to make of the cruel bullying, the despairs, the cowardice and all of their fondly nurtured prejudices? Really, it's not good enough, is it? No. They looked at me and told me that I had to be silent. That I had to accept things as they were because they were never going to change.

The gentle promise of the creed had always been never to forsake your brothers, your sisters or your children. But now that I consider this, I realize how much of a lie it really is. But no matter; I have come to understand that I do not hate them, despite all of this. I do not wish them dead. In fact, I feel nothing for them because they hold no meaning to me. What was always important was _her_, no matter what the cost of my own life. No matter what mockery I faced every day from those I believed were my fellow comrades. I was among my own God, loving her despite the hell I lived in. Then, they took her from me because I was foolish not to see that they would. I could not save her and now, she's gone. Do not let what you believe is the right path cloud you, my friends. Sometimes what doesn't make sense at first may end up being the greatest thing for you."

When he finished his last words, he looked directly at Shockwave as he did.

When the conversation died down and the colony began to relax, Red Alert joined a group of youngling with Hot Shot. She laughed and began to play with them; some of them squealed with delight and wrestled around with the two new Autobots.

"You are certainly good with younglings," a Decepticon female said.

Red Alert looked up at her; she was about her size, maybe a few inches taller and had green armor. Her face was cracked slightly and filled with age. Her Decepticon symbol was worn across her shoulder and it appeared that she transformed into a vehicle of some kind given the tires.

"Oh, I love younglings," Red Alert sighed, "I've always wanted to raise some of my own."

The Decepticon chuckled. "Why can't you?" she asked.

"I think you know why."

The Decepticon whistled to the younglings at Red Alert's feet in her native tongue and they quickly scampered off to join a mech standing at a stand. Red Alert assumed that he was their spark father. Then, she looked at Red Alert.

"We had to leave New Kaon to find safe harbor for them," she told her, "We didn't want our children growing up under such hatred."

Red Alert sighed. "Yeah. That's good."

"This planet gives us a share of new possibilities," The Decepticon said, "And I want them to grow up happy and free."

Red Alert smiled faintly. "Do you feel safe here?"

"I do."

Red Alert considered this. Maybe there was a way that she could feel safe here as well.


	8. Escape to Ecstasy

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Escape to Ecstasy**

_Cybertron_

Rodimus was still cold to what he had seen.

"You're serious about this?" Sentinel asked him, somewhat surprised and a little disgusted all at the same time. Usually he was loud and boisterous, but now, he looked genuinely serious this time after hearing what the other Prime had told him.

"Yes, she ran through the space bridge with him," Rodimus told him with a grim look on his face, "I don't know where they could have gone. Shockwave must have set the space bridge to erase the tracking data as soon as they went through."

"Hm," Sentinel pursed his lips thoughtfully, "Well, I guess we're lucky we have some of Cybertron's best Intel officers to work on that."

Rodimus turned and gritted his teeth. "Red Alert's never done something like this before," he snapped, "She wouldn't become involved with a Decepticon. I know her!"

Wheeljack and Perceptor approached them now, interrupting the argument.

"WE ARE WORKING ON THE SPACE BRIDGE, SENTINEL PRIME," Perceptor told the blue mech, "IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO GO THROUGH THE TRANSFER DATA. THERE HAVE BEEN OVER SEVERAL MILLION USES SINCE ITS CONSTRUCTION."

Sentinel's optics narrowed. "Are you joking?"

"NEGATIVE." Perceptor replied.

Wheeljack rubbed the back of his head. "If I may say, I don't really believe that Red Alert's acting this way on her own."

Rodimus frowned at him. "What are you suggesting?"

"What I mean is that maybe Shockwave's using this sort of thing to his advantage," Wheeljack suggested, "After all, with an Autobot on his side who may have felt feelings for him when he was Long Arm, that could benefit in the long run."

"Are you sure about that?" Sentinel asked.

Wheeljack chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders. "If _I_ were a Decepticon, it's what _I'd _do."

Rodimus thought about that for a long time before he smiled slightly. The idea did give him a little more relief because it meant that Red Alert wasn't deliberately acting insane. That gave him a little more hope that maybe if he found her, he could talk some sense into her. His spark hoped against all hope aside that it would not have to come to interrogating her. He knew that Sentinel was tempted to do so given what he had learned.

"Let's hope for the best, yeah?" Sentinel said, "It would be a shame if we had to bring such a fine medic to justice, wouldn't it?"

Rodimus' optics narrowed. "It won't come to that."

Sentinel shrugged his shoulders. "Let's hope not then."

Rodimus was deeply troubled by Sentinel's response. He had a feeling that this little problem would only get worse.

O

Hot Shot grinned in a ridiculous manner, staring through the misshapen glass sculpture that distorted his face.

Shockwave and Red Alert watched him with dismay as he took off, transforming and driving down the bumpy road with a loud whooping sound.

"Yahoo! Eat my dust!" he hollered, "Ya-" He struck a hole in the street and grunted as he zoomed passed them. "Whoop! Pothole!" Then, he disappeared down another street, passing several irritated Cybertronians in the process.

"It's early and already I feel like shooting him..." Shockwave said, displeasure in his voice. He looked around at the crowds of Autobots and Decepticons. "Look at them. There is not a Cybertronian on this planet that exists in their natural order."

Red Alert looked askance at him.

"Red Alert." Shockwave warned, knowing why she was staring at him like that.

Just then, two older Autobot females walked up, carrying something in their hands. One of them stood taller than the other and she was colored in dark red while the smaller Autobot was bright blue. They appeared to be wearing cloaks around their bodies.

"Hello, I'm Mana," the red Autobot said, "And this is my friend Prism. We have gifts for you two."

Red Alert smiled when Prism held out a carefully patterned cloak and placed it into her hands. "Oh, it's beautiful!" she said, admiring the patterns of Cybertronian glyphs. The colors were bright and colorful and very easy on the optics. There even appeared to be a stitching of both Autobot and Decepticon logos that rested side by side together. That touched her a bit before she looked at them. "How much does it cost?"

"It is a gift," Mana explained, with a cheerful smile. "To welcome you here."

"Thank you. That's very nice." Red Alert said.

Prism nodded her head, still smiling.

"Oh, she doesn't speak, at all," Mana explained, as if she had completely forgotten, "Damage in the war will do that to you."

They turned to Shockwave and offered something in a similar pattern and held it out to him. He shook his head and stepped back a pace. It wasn't exactly his cup of oil to be offered things in a friendly manner. "No, no. I do not need that." he said.

Mana laughed gently. "Don't be silly, Shockwave," she chided, "Now, hold out your servos."

Shockwave looked at Red Alert and slowly, reluctantly held out his claws. Mana placed the offering into them and he studied it as if it was a creature that he could not understand. The females chuckled at his dumbfounded manneurisms. Shockwave noticed a peculiar design that resembled metal wings and a female Decepticon crouched in a way that almost appeared to be that of someone praying. Shockwave didn't know what to say. No one had given him a gift before.

"It was Prism's idea, as soon as she saw you arrive, Shockwave," Mana told him, "She made it in honor of your mother."

Shockwave looked up sharply at that. He was quiet before speaking. "She must be mistaken. My spark mother abandoned me. There is nothing to honor." He cleared his vocal apparatus before handing the cloak back to them. "I'm sorry, I cannot accept it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

He turned and walked away. Red Alert gave the two females her apology before following him.

O

Later that evening, Hot Shot and Red Alert were sitting in Jhiaxus' chambers, in the middle of a discussion regarding the future of their stay at New Lucifer.

"Do you think they're going to find us out here?" Hot Shot asked her.

Red Alert sighed heavily through her intakes. "I suspect they probably could, but the Elite Guard and Jhiaxus will never take up arms against each other. You know that they won't attack them unless they're attacked. It's protocol."

Hot Shot sighed dramatically and rolled his optics. "Bureaucrats are a lot like mindless mobs; they don't respond to reason." he told her. He chuckled slightly and gave a sarcastic smirk. "Ah, politics and ignorance. It always works out, doesn't it?"

Jhiaxus stepped into the great chambers and smiled when he saw them. "Hello," he said, "I take it you are enjoying your beverages?"

They nodded their heads.

"You're a good guy, Jhiaxus," Hot Shot said. He paused before considering what he said and made a half-hearted gesture. "Neh, but not _too_ good."

Jhiaxus smiled and shook his head.

Red Alert looked up at him before rising. "Jhiaxus, I thought that you should know something," she told him, "There was someone else who came through the space bridge before we did."

Jhiaxus looked interested, but a little concerned as well. "Really? And who might that be?"

"Are you familiar with Beta?" Red Alert asked.

Jhiaxus sighed heavily and groaned with disdain. "Oh, him?" He tsked and turned. "Ah, well I'll have to do something about that. Beta is a troublesome creature with a history of getting in everyone's affairs. He will cause problems if he finds the colony."

"How do you know that he isn't already here?" Hot Shot asked.

"He may be. But if he was foolish enough to attack my home and my people then I will be ready to defend them if I must." Jhiaxus replied.

Red Alert was surprised. He didn't say Autobots or Decepticons. They were his people. They were not separated by faction or creed. They were all the same to him; living mechanisms. She had never seen a Decepticon with such an outlook. It was difficult for her to imagine that he had once been a mad, murderous tyrant that history had made him out to be. It was also difficult to imagine that this mech had been Shockwave's teacher.

"There is no need to concern yourself, Red Alert," Jhiaxus assured her, "If Beta is foolish enough, he will find himself on the sharp end of my blade." Then, he sighed and shook his head, turning. "Let us hope that it does not come to that."

"We can help you," Red Alert said.

"I would welcome your assistance regardless, but would prefer you did not," Jhiaxus argued, "I don't want you to get hurt."

Red Alert smiled. "We've faced worse than a crime boss with a language barrier problem," she assured him, "Haven't we, Hot Shot?"

The mech laughed and nodded his head. "You know it!"

Jhiaxus glanced at her and then down to Hot Shot before he chuckled gently. "Very well. Tomorrow morning, I will go scouting the entire perimeter of the colony. You two can join me. Shockwave will no doubt want to partake as well."

"Speaking of ol' One Eye, where is he anyway?" Hot Shot muttered.

Red Alert looked around briefly. "I'll go find him."

Jhiaxus smiled, albeit a bit playfully. "I shall give you some privacy if you need it."

Hot Shot grimaced in disgust. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I don't think I can finish my oil after hearing _that_," he said, sickened; he stood up and started to walk away, "If you two perverts will excuse me, I'm going to stick my processor in an acid bath to rid it of the images you've put there."

Jhiaxus chuckled and shook his head, watching Hot Shot disappear out into the night. "Quite a bizarre young one."

"You have no idea." Red Alert murmured, with a small laugh to follow.

O

She found Shockwave in the quarters that Jhiaxus had assigned him, busy at work attempting to repair a transmitter. Red Alert felt a strange sense of sickness as she watched him, but nonetheless walked up and tilted her head.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Attempting to repair this wretched thing," he snapped with frustration, twisting a few screwdrivers through some rusted bolts. He stopped and gestured behind her with one claw toward a small soldering tool across the table out of his reach. "Could you hand me that?"

Red Alert nodded and picked up the tool, offering it to him. He took it and continued with his work. She remained silent for a long time, watching the sparks fly off of the soldering tool as he carefully applied a new piece of circuit board in place of an old one. The light danced across his features, casting a warm glow over his usually dark appearance. For a moment, he just worked in silence before she spoke.

"Shockwave?" she said, carefully.

"Yes?" he asked, his attention carefully focused on his work.

"Can we please talk about this?"

Shockwave stopped soldering long enough to look directly at her. He shifted in his seat slightly. "Talk about what?" he asked, "Do you mean my decision?" When she nodded faintly, he resumed attention to his task in front of him. "I have made it, Red Alert. I told you what could happen otherwise."

"But you don't even want to try, do you?" Red Alert said, her voice filled with disappointment.

"No."

Red Alert was silent, surprised by the simply put response before she sighed. "So that's it then?" she asked, forcing a hot sensation in her vocal apparatus down; her voice was forcing restraint, "Everything that had happened was for nothing?"

"You've learned a lot, Red Alert," Shockwave told her, giving her a sideways glance, "Now can you learn to accept disappointment?"

"Why are you doing this?"

Shockwave set the tool down and turned to look at her directly. "You want the lie, Red Alert," he said, sternly, "Do not insult my intelligence by claiming that you care for a Decepticon because I know that is simply not true." He turned back to focus on his transmitter and gathered his tools together; his voice dropped lower, much more reserved. "It can't be true and it would be best for everyone if it stayed that way."

She looked stunned. "What?" she exclaimed.

"You know it is." Shockwave said, his voice softer, yet taking on a razor's edge.

"That isn't true at all!"

Shockwave tilted his head in her direction and his claws halted over the transmitter. He slapped the soldering tool onto the table. "Then explain what you really feel," he said, with a contemptible tone in his voice, "Tell me what you _really_ have feelings for. I really think that I'm entitled an answer to that inquiry."

She looked at him with a tormented expression on her face. "That's not fair."

"It's perfectly fair."

"But I went through so much to set you free and-"

"That was your decision to make, not mine."

Red Alert paused slightly, hurt by his abrupt, cold attitude. Then, she looked thoughtful for a few moments before taking a careful step forward. "Wait, are you ashamed because you might have felt something for me?" she asked, "Is that why you're acting this way?"

"This conversation is over," Shockwave suddenly said, his words biting out of him with poison, "Leave me to my work."

"I'm confused, Shockwave," Red Alert insisted, "You've already proven otherwise given the fact that you've spared my life many times when you could have easily killed me. Why would you go through all this trouble if I was nothing to you, then?"

Ice filled Shockwave's Energon lines. This was getting out of control and he didn't like it.

"I am a Decepticon, Red Alert," he snapped, "I will use you in any way that I see fit."

She furrowed her brow, sensing something off about his retort. Instead of taking it to spark, she leaned forward and shook her head. "Oh really?" she said, "If that's true, then you'd have no problem killing me right here and now."

Shockwave's hands froze over the soldering tool. He stood up and loomed over her and she faced him back with defiance in her optics.

"You could," she said, calmly, "No one's stopping you."

Shockwave's single optic glowered down at her, sensing her challenge.

"Go ahead, Shockwave. Do it. If I'm such a waste, then end it right here and now," Red Alert challenged, her optics gleaming, "Even without your weapons, I'm sure you'll find a way. You are one of the most creative in Megatron's army, after all."

Shockwave abruptly raised his claws as if he was going to strike her and Red Alert, despite her defiance actually cringed away from the anticipated blow. For a long time, his hand froze there, poised to strike like a deadly serpent. But it never came. Red Alert carefully opened her optics and looked up as Shockwave slowly lowered his dangerous hand. He let it hang at his side and he took a low, defeated sigh. He was silent for a long time before speaking.

"I cannot..." he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Red Alert blinked and watched as he took a spot back in his seat. He sighed and started to pick up his tools, but dropped them again with a frustrated sound.

"Your accursed existence has plagued me and robbed me of my logical way of thinking," he muttered, disgusted with himself, "This is not how I was taught and now what I know. It's not what I am used to. Do you not understand? It's wrong."

The room was filled with a suffocating heat before Red Alert finally spoke.

"Shockwave..."

He turned at the soft sound of her voice and was surprised when she moved close to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. She had touched him before, but nothing in the past made his spark pulse faster. The act made him freeze where he sat, but he did not rebuke her this time. She slowly slid her hands down the grooves of his black neck and across the flat planes of his chest. Shockwave watched her like a cautious animal the entire time; her moves left static tickling through the spots where she touched him.

It was wrong to even feel an inch of pleasure. He had restraint that he always prided himself on. But it was threatening to be let loose.

Red Alert moved carefully and slowly, her touch feather light across his armor. She wanted to be sure if he didn't want it to continue, she would immediately stop. She smiled at him, a deep, intense feminine smile before leaning forward to place a delicate, chaste kiss against the side of his helm. He was still clutching his tools in his claws and his grip tightened in reflex. He made no sound as she continued her explorations.

Red Alert could feel his spark slowly starting to pulse faster beneath the gradually warming thick armor of his chest. She leaned forward and gently, if not a bit teasingly placed a kiss against the spot where his spark was located.

The action made Shockwave suck in air like a drug and drop his tools. They clattered onto the table and some fell to the floor. Red Alert smiled up at him and noticed that his head had fallen back. His optic lens was darkened. "If you were able to feel that, then you have more emotion than you give yourself credit for."

Shockwave made a low, deep sound and grasped her by her shoulders, pulling her from his chest. "No. This can't happen..." his voice breathed out. It made him sound strange because she was not used to hearing him sound like that.

Red Alert looked up at him pleadingly. "Please, I don't care! It's what I want."

"You're going to condemn yourself to the life of exile, possibly death all for the sake of being mine?" Shockwave's words were barely audible.

"Would it really be so bad?" Red Alert asked him, her optics shimmering with hope and sincerity. When he did not respond, she moved forward and pressed her lips against the underside of his helm to the spot where he may have had a chin. When Shockwave tilted his head back to give her more access, she smiled against him and continued to kiss his non-faceplates. Without any way to read his expressions, Red Alert could not tell what he was thinking during this moment.

Shockwave could feel his body vibrating with a strange new feeling; Red Alert had always been in his processor and for the longest time, he believed it to be a curse. A false longing that perhaps he had developed in a rather unfortunate act of desperation. But when she was touching him, his spark literally pulsed like a frantic drum that ached for her, its rhythms almost audible in the silence of the room. When he felt her touch his helm with gentle fingers, there was no hesitation, no fear of him in that caress.

"I love you..." she whispered, her voice laced with both pain and ecstasy, "Oh, Primus forgive me. I do... I can't lie to myself anymore."

Hearing those words broke something within him. Something that stepped over logic. Something he both hated and welcomed.

Something he _needed._

He grabbed her around the waist with one arm and yanked her to his chest. The action made Red Alert gasp softly in surprise, but shudder once it brought their chests together in a painfully erotic way. She shivered and sucked in a sharp breath at the hot, prickling sensations. He brushed his non-faceplates against her cheek, nuzzling her before looking down, that single eye blazing.

"Tell me, Red Alert," he said, "How many have you been with?"

She looked startled by the question. "Why?"

"Because I want to know how many times I have to take you to get you to forget every single one of them."

She blinked at the erotic thought before shuddering when his claw dragged itself ever so lightly across her chest, barely scraping the metal that covered her spark chamber. Her optics closed and a soft, barely audible moan escaped her. Her spark thrummed wildly beneath its casing, threatening to burst.

"Taken by a Decepticon..." Shockwave hissed, "I will defile you, Red Alert and I most certainly will not be gentle."

She shook her head, her thoughts swimming. "I don't believe that..."

"I will ruin you."

"It's my choice as much as it is yours."

He was silent for a while, just touching her lightly, sampling her body in a way that drew delightful, soft, pleading noises from her. Each light touch of his pointed fingers felt like it trailed a searing path of fire in its wake. When he finally spoke again, something different came to his voice; a deep, restrained sound that carried predatory hunger. She felt a claw against her lower lip.

"Very well. You're mine this night."

O

Jhiaxus and Hot Shot stood at the colony's edge, watching the hills surrounding it.

"Will you remain here for a long time, Hot Shot?" Jhiaxus asked him.

"Maybe we will, and maybe we won't," Hot Shot replied, with a shrug. He paused briefly and smiled at him. "On Cybertron, we call that suspense."

Jhiaxus chuckled slightly at the younger Aubotot's humor before looking serious now. "I know something about their coupling concerns you, young bot," he said, quietly, "But I believe that for us to be happy, we must look to our sparks and not the creeds of others."

Hot Shot knotted his brow thoughtfully. "So, what you're saying is..." he began. He shook his head. "Wait, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that as a friend, you should feel happy for Red Alert," Jhiaxus told him, "The female, I could tell by looking at her that she has lived in a world of acceptance and doubt. She has always believed that their way was the only way. A typical female, I suppose you can say. She must have felt for another in the past, but it didn't work out. They separated, believing it was for the best, but it left emptiness inside of her."

Hot Shot's optics widened slightly. "Whoa, are you, like, psychic or something?"

"No. I simply read people through their actions, emotions and their mannerisms," Jhiaxus replied, "I believe that she truly cares for my student and in this day and age, maybe their connections could possibly silence this war. Permanently."

Hot Shot seemed to think about that. He looked hopelessly confused and worried.

"But it's not that easy." he argued.

"Of course not," Jhiaxus sad, "Nothing in life is ever easy or free. It always comes with its share of consequences. But in the end, once you have crossed the threshold of hell, you will find yourself in your paradise."

"Really?" Hot Shot asked.

Jhiaxus nodded his head.

"But what if you just wanted to avoid hell entirely?"

Jhiaxus was quiet for a moment before answering. "Then you can never truly appreciate the awards..."

It never occurred to Hot Shot that one of the wisest mechs he had ever spoke to was once a Decepticon tyrant.

Things truly had changed.


	9. The Devil's Vanity

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**The Devil's Vanity**

_New Lucifer_

Red Alert woke to the strange alien sun shining through the prism glass of the room.

She felt light, strangely warm and satisfied in a way that she hadn't been in so long. Primus knew she couldn't remember when the last time was that she had awoken to a feeling like this, but it made her feel sated and happy.

Red Alert looked down and noticed that Shockwave was still sleeping. She could see his chest lightly rising and falling with his gentle cycles of breath. She smiled and tenderly rubbed the sides of his helm with one hand. Shockwave's talons twitched at the sides of his head and there was a brief pause in his cycles of breath, but he remained asleep, despite her touches. She giggled quietly; why did someone so powerful and stoic look so peaceful and content after...

Then, when Red Alert shifted a little, Shockwave awoke with a dull snort. His single optic brightened and he glanced around briefly before looking up at her. She smiled down at him and lightly ran a hand down his chest plates.

"Good morning," she said.

"Hello," he murmured, his voice sounded smooth and content.

"How do you feel?" Red Alert asked.

Shockwave grunted slightly and brushed a talon across her cheek. The gesture was sweet, even considering its source. "Unusual, but quite pleased." he replied.

"Unusual?" Red Alert questioned, with a teasing smile.

"Yes. Given what transpired last night, I thought you would feel the same way as well."

Red Alert snuggled closer to him. "Not at all."

"Hm. You're a strange Autobot." Shockwave murmured, though his voice carried no coldness or contempt.

"Maybe."

They laid there together, chest to chest. Red Alert sighed. "I wish we didn't have to get up."

Shockwave tilted his head at her. "Why?"

"Because I don't want this to end."

Shockwave made a sound, but didn't reply to that. He truly felt strange about his coupling with the Autobot, but it seemed that the more he thought about it, the less it felt logical to question it. Instead, he just held her. There was a warmth between him that he found pleasing, somewhat soothing. It was peculiar for him to feel this way, but he truly felt content holding her.

"I'll confess something, Red Alert," he told her, "This does feel somewhat illogical to-"

She chuckled and looked at him, turning to sit up. "Do you want to know what's illogical?" she asked.

"What?"

"You're logic."

He paused, thinking of that as she straightened. "That makes no sense." he argued, "For logic to be illogical, there would have to be-"

She stood up out of the berth and chuckled with amusement. "Don't you know that logic cannot explain everything?"

"It does quite a job of explaining most things."

When she turned to gather the tools from the floor that Shockwave had dropped, she heard him utter a soft, surprised sound. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking back at him, "I'm just picking up these tools for you, that's all."

He gestured with one claw. "Your back."

Red Alert frowned and turned, attempting to look at her back, but she couldn't get a good enough view to see what the problem was. Instead of continuing to try and look that way, she walked to a mirror across the room and stared at herself. She was surprised to see several claw marks and scratches on her shoulders, around her back struts and down her lower back, no doubt from Shockwave's claws during the moment. She chuckled, not angry by the sight in the least and looked over at him.

"Hm, it's odd; I never noticed that when I woke up," she said, "I'm still rather numb in most places."

Shockwave straightened before standing. "I was too rough with you."

She smiled up at him. "It's okay. It was good what we did."

"You forgive me too easily, Red Alert." Shockwave said, "Perhaps we should get those buffed out. Would you enjoy explaining them to that little menace Hot Shot considering that he cannot keep a secret otherwise?"

Her smile disappeared and she sighed. "Oh. You have a point..."

"That can be taken care of in town," Shockwave told her, "I can take you."

She nodded before looking up at him. Her expression changed. "Hey."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about what happened at the prison." she told him.

Shockwave looked down at her. "Don't be. I suppose given your reaction and what I had done previously; in a way, you were justified." he replied, "Had you not been honest and truthful, I think there would be a cause for concern."

"Well, maybe you deserve a little honesty on your part." she replied.

He murmured thoughtfully in response.

"I should get myself cleaned up before we go," Red Alert said, turning, "Is there a washing station around here that I can use?"

Shockwave pointed at a door. "Through there."

"Thank you. I won't be long."

As she disappeared inside and tested the facilities, she eventually made out the sound of a soldering tool buzzing outside the door. That was Shockwave; always straight to business. She found herself feeling sad for his continued intent to return to Megatron. But she couldn't hold him down if it was really something that he did not want.

O

He was annoyed.

The Autobot vendor-simply named Scrap-refused to sell him the part that he needed for the transmitter. "What part of 'I do not possess valid funds are you not processing?" Shockwave snapped.

Scrap glared at him. "Look, if you don't have reasonable trading funds, I can't give the part to you. I don't care how badly you need it!"

Shockwave sighed impatiently. "Surely we can come to some kind of agreement!"

"I'm afraid if you got nothing, then no go!"

After a moment, Shockwave sensed something watching him and he stared down, noticing a small youngling standing there. It had red optics and tiny wings and was smiling cheerfully up at him. He attempted to ignore the youngling before looking down at it.

"What are you staring at?" he snapped.

The youngling turned to Scrap. "I got Energon sticks!" It was a female youngling.

Scrap laughed gently. "You're going to pay for him, Thunder Blast?" he asked.

"My spark mother always says it's nice to help mechs in need!" the youngling-Thunder Blast-said, grinning. She held up the Energon sticks to Shockwave and waved them wildly through the air. "Is this enough, Mister Shockwave sir?"

Shockwave reluctantly took them. "Yes, uh, thank you little one."

Scrap handed Shockwave the part and took the Energon sticks. He turned to go and Thunder Blast followed at his side. Shockwave attempted to ignore the inquisitive youngling for a few moments before he stopped and watched as she stopped as well.

"What?" he snapped.

Thunder Blast smiled brightly up at him. "If you and Miss Red Alert have younglings, can I be friends with them?" she asked.

Shockwave didn't have a face, but he did do an excellent job of sounding shocked. "What?" he exclaimed, "Where did you hear that?"

"Miss Red Alert had interface scratches when she went to see Iron Core," Thunder Blast said, "I saw them when she walked by our house."

Shockwave snorted. "Aren't you a little young to know about interfacing?"

"Not at all. My spark mother says I'm a curious bot!" Thunder Blast told him, with a grin of pride; no doubt Decepticon arrogance blossoming at a young age regardless of how she had been raised, "I know a whole lot of stuff!"

"Do you know what it means to go away?" Shockwave snapped, "I have delicate work to perform, so stop following me. You're worse than Hot Shot."

"Am not!" Thunder Blast protested, letting her arms hang at her sides, "He's weird! He talks too much and always runs through potholes in the streets!"

Shockwave actually sounded amused. "Perhaps all is not lost with you yet, little one."

Meanwhile, Red Alert was lying on her front while the Autobot medic Iron Core approached her with a buffer in his hands.

"So, I take it you and the tall, skinny one hit it off pretty well?" he said, chuckling.

Red Alert blushed somewhat. "Yes."

"Hey, no need to be ashamed," Iron Core teased, starting up the buffer; it whirred loudly in the medical hall, "At least you found someone who loves you back. I never had that chance given my...well...my appearance and everything."

Red Alert didn't want to stare at Iron Core. His face was horribly scarred and his body mismatched in so many different places, it was hard to tell just what it was that he transformed into if he did at all.

"I don't know what he thinks sometimes," Red Alert said, with a sad sigh.

Iron Core paused and looked mildly sympathetic. "Ah, I see." he murmured, "Well, just hold still. I'll have these out in a moment."

O

Hot Shot was waiting by the edge of the colony when he saw the two of them arrive many groons later.

"Primus, where the slag have you two been?" he asked, "Jhiaxus is preparing to scout the planet!"

Red Alert smiled. "We were in town and-"

"Ah, never mind!" Hot Shot interrupted, "Let's go!"

The three transformed and began their ride toward the outside of the colony where Jhiaxus was waiting for them. Once they arrived, they resumed their robot forms and watched as he cast his suspicious optics toward a towering peak.

"He's here," he told them, "I do not doubt that he will arrive soon."

"How do you know?" Red Alert asked.

"I sense it."

Hot Shot laughed and glanced at the other two. "This guy can read anyone's expressions!" he said, "And there's probably over hundreds of 'em that you can't get passed him." He looked at Shockwave. "You can only make two expressions with your face, Cyclops." He grinned now at Shockwave's impassive silence. "Are you happy or are you sad?"

"Gradually growing annoyed, actually." Shockwave snapped.

Red Alert couldn't resist a laugh and glanced sidelong at Shockwave. "Sometime you can be surprised, Hot Shot," she told the smaller bot.

Hot Shot missed the reverence in her words. "Ah, no. Not really."

Then, a soft sound filled the air. The sound of cruel laughter that gradually increased in volume. The group looked up and Beta appeared over the towering peak, clutching two long chains in his massive hands.

"Oy! Look at this!" he bellowed, "Fresh kills for my pets!"

Suddenly, two massive metallic shapes darted at his side, snarling and gnashing their metal fangs together. They were both black armored with yellow, almost golden optics and had long, jagged claws. They looked like the felines of Earth and roared hungrily, tugging at their restraints.

"Oh look at that!" Hot Shot sneered, preparing his torches, "Big guy's got himself kitty cats!"

Beta let out an raucous laugh. "I'm taking ova this planet!"

Jhiaxus turned with a scowl on his face. "I cannot allow that."

Beta snarled and released his grip on the chains. "Feedin' time!" he thundered.

The creatures surged down the hills and raced into the colony at great speeds. Jhiaxus' optics widened in horror. "NO!" he shouted, turning and racing after the massive metal beasts. "No, you will not harm them!"

The colony was alive with screams of fright and carnage as several of the felines attacked helpless inhabitants. Red Alert turned and looked back before she pursued Jhiaxus in an effort to offer assistance. Hot Shot glanced up at Shockwave.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Cyclops!" he told him.

"No. Go with Red Alert and cover Jhiaxus!" Shockwave ordered. "I can handle Beta."

Hot Shot scowled. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Now!"

Hot Shot gave him a bizarre look before he started to consider that it may have been the best option. He quickly turned and rushed into the colony, leaving Shockwave alone with the Decepticon crime lord boss. Beta laughed wickedly.

"'ey! You think ye got what it takes ta beat me?" Beta snarled.

Shockwave stood strong. "Even without weapons, you are not worth the fight, Beta," he said, calmly, "You either surrender to my authority or you will fall."

Beta let out a loud laugh once again. "Ratha brave for a skinnay lit'le thing!"

"Just one question, Beta." Shockwave said.

"What?"

"How would you like to have your circuits displayed?"

Beta let out a bellowing roar of fury at the insult and jumped off of the peak, sliding down the dirt and colliding into Shockwave's body, sending the Decepticon flying through a makeshift building wall. Shockwave grunted sharply from the impact and rubble rained down onto him. Beta trudged through the rubble, his cruel laughter rumbling out of him before he grabbed Shockwave's leg and dragged him out, tossing him into the streets.

"Mouthy lit'le thing. I think I'll cut out ye voice box and make ye watch!" he spat.

Shockwave raised his hands to catch Beta's wrist blades as they came down. "We are on the same side, you fool!" he snarled with effort.

"No we ain't!" Beta bellowed, with a nasty grin on his horrible face, "That waste of scrap metal Megatron left me to rot. I ain't nobody's patsy! I'm the boss 'ere and ye gonna listen to me or I think I'll take that lit'le female o' yours and fold her five ways and make her muy lit'le fun slave! Ah! What'd ya say to that, skinnay bot?"

Shockwave's single optic flashed. "I think that was the greatest mistake you've ever made."

He grabbed Beta by his lower jaw in one hand and his arm in the other before throwing the Decepticon boss with all his might through the buildings. Beta yelled loudly the entire time, blasting through the walls as if they were nothing. Shockwave glowered in the direction the crime boss had flown with a sound of effort emerging from his vocals.

"Oy! Skinnay bot!" Beta's voice emerged from the smoke, "Was 'at supposed ta hurt?"

Emerging from the smoke was Beta's alternate mode, an enormous reptilian beast that resembled a dragon. Shockwave's optic narrowed.

O

Jhiaxus, Red Alert and Hot Shot attempted to fend off the massive feline machines.

The two metal cats circled them, snarling with fury and hunger. Hot Shot had his torches raised, ready to burn them. Red Alert was crouched in an attack position with the only weapon she had on her; her cutting tool used for surgical operations. It would definitely require that she end up close enough to them in a way that she didn't want, but she had no other choice. Jhiaxus was wielding two dual blades now.

"Here kitty kitty!" Hot Shot taunted.

The metal cats snarled and one charged for Jhiaxus. He slammed his weight into it, grabbing the creature's arms and holding it back. It roared and thrashed, attempting to be free, but Jhiaxus swung his swords up, cutting through the softer protoform beneath the creature's neck. The other cat shrieked in fury and dove for his back, but Red Alert moved just as swiftly, leaping onto its back and stabbing her cutting took into its throat.

"Aww slag, Red Alert!" Hot Shot groaned.

The creature she had jumped on shrieked and thrashed wildly, attempting to buck her off. Jhiaxus was busy handling the other when he noticed that Red Alert was being thrown wildly about. He gritted his teeth and drew his blades up the length of the feline's body, sending a horrible spray of Energon everywhere and drawing a piercing, mortal scream from the monstrous creature's jaws. It collapsed and thrashed about in the throes of mortal agony before going still.

Red Alert was brutally flung from the metallic cat and its jaws sank into her left arm. She gave a shriek of pain and Hot Shot moved quick before it could maul her. He raised his torches and sent a searing hot blast of flame at the creature. It released Red Alert and howled in pain before whirling and charging at Hot Shot. It's attempts were thwarted by Jhiaxus who raised his hooked blades and drove them into the creature's mouth, ripping its helm clean in half in a sickening twist.

The body of the metal cat collapsed in a pile of broken machinery and fluids.

"Whoa!" Hot Shot exclaimed.

Jhiaxus moved to Red Alert's side and helped her stand. She clutched her shoulder to prevent the Energon from leaking.

"I'm fine," she told him, her voice tight with pain, "We need to stop Beta."

Meanwhile, Beta was furiously attempting to take down Shockwave who moved much faster than the mech in his alternate form. Shockwave easily avoided his Energon cannon attacks. "'old still, skinnay bot!" he bellowed, "I need to crush you!"

Shockwave made a bored sound. "If this is all the trouble you are going to give me, Beta; I'm disappointed."

Beta roared and transformed back to his robot form and that was when Shockwave took his chance. When Beta surged with his blade, Shockwave ducked to avoid the swing and grabbed the weapon, twisting enough to snap it clean off. Beta bellowed in fury and shock and swung with his other arm, but Shockwave moved faster. He took the broken blade and drove it deep into Beta's hand, pinning him to the ground.

Beta let out a scream of pain. "Ahh! My hand!" he shouted, "You little-"

Shockwave watched as Beta attempted to yank his hand free, but the weapon had been shoved so deep, it only served to cut deeper into his circuits and draw a pool of Energon around it. Shockwave leaned forward.

"Who else went through the space bridge with you?" he demanded.

Beta gritted his teeth and grinned cruelly. "Suck my tailpipe, skinnay bot!"

"Very well." Shockwave said, calmly. He grabbed a jagged piece of pipe that had come loose from their fight and shoved it into Beta's other hand, pinning him to the ground. Beta screamed this time in agony, thrashing about and tearing his hand even more.

"Oh. Did that hurt?" Shockwave hissed. "Let us hope so."

Jhiaxus stepped into the destroyed home and looked at Shockwave. "That's enough, Shockwave," he told him gently, "I'll take it from here."

Shockwave stepped aside and Jhiaxus knelt down to Beta who was whimpering in pain. "Silence!" he spat, in a voice that chilled the circuits in the Autobot's bodies; Beta looked up at him with unease, "Do you see these?" Jhiaxus hissed with pain and fury, holding up what looked to be discarded metal remains of fallen Cybertronians. He threw each and every piece at Beta's face to which the Decepticon boss recoiled from. "Each one of these pieces is a life that because of your childish arrogance and wicked vanity, are now extinguished!"

"Ye don't need ta kill me, old bot!" Beta hissed, his optics defiant, yet glittering with fear, "Ye gotta have mercy right? That's what you prissies preach, eh?"

Jhiaxus stood up and spoke his words calmly, yet there was a black fury that could easily be recognized. "You will know what pain is in the next life." He gestured to the others. "Come..."

They turned and started to leave with Beta screaming after them.

"I'm gonna kill all ye!" he bellowed maniacally, tugging at the Energon-soaked restraints in his hands, "I'll erase ye from the universe! Get back 'ere and fight me, cowards!"

Jhiaxus paused at the opening of the home before a cannon slid out from his wrist. He looked over his shoulder and spoke his words quietly, passively and filled with no signs of malice. "Have a nice afterlife, my friend."

Beta's optics widened when he realized what Jhiaxus was going to do. "No! No, don't! Wait!" he shouted, "Primus damn you! No!"

Jhiaxus turned and raised his cannon, firing a powerful shot that shredded through Beta's helm and completely obliterated his upper body into nothing but tattered circuits and Energon-soaked metal. Hot Shot and Red Alert watched in shock as his lifeless body collapsed and Jhiaxus lowered the smoking barrel of his cannon.

O

Red Alert sighed impatiently as Jhiaxus tended to her wounds.

"This isn't necessary," she protested, "I know how to care for my own wounds. I'm a medic. I need to tend to the wounded myself."

Jhiaxus smiled chidingly at her. "Now, now, stop fussing," he scolded, "You have taken quite an injury for the sake of protecting me. I feel that it would only be prudent to take care of your damages myself."

Red Alert still sounded displeased, but in respect for Jhiaxus, she remained silent.

Shockwave watched her and folded his arms across his chest. "You need to take better care of yourself," he said, "You could have had your entire arm torn off had it not been for this ridiculous fool here." He gestured to Hot Shot with a brief twitch of his head.

"I regret nothing!" Hot Shot remarked, with a goofy grin.

Red Alert made a face before she looked at Jhiaxus. "Do you think the danger's passed for your planet?" she asked.

Jhiaxus sighed. "It's never passed, only receded for the time being."

"We can stay and help you if you need it." she offered.

Shockwave shook his head. "Lord Megatron has already contacted me for pickup, Red Alert," he told her, "We cannot stay for any more than half a cycle."

Hot Shot looked surprised by his words, but the one who appeared to be the most shocked was Red Alert. Jhiaxus caught her look and sensed something troubling about her reactions. He sighed and looked back at Shockwave.

"I see you've made your decision then," he replied, his voice carrying slight disappointment more than anything else, "When he arrives, you will have him meet you outside of the colony. His presence will no doubt make the citizens nervous."

Shockwave nodded. "Very well."

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I have cleaning to do in the courtyards," Jhiaxus said, "I must go."

Red Alert stood up and started to follow. "I'll help you."

"No. You need to keep your arm steady until it heals. I can handle the damages."

Red Alert gave Shockwave a pained look before she reluctantly turned and disappeared from the medical bay. Hot Shot heaved a small sigh. "Wow, it just exceptionally awkward in here, so I'm going to go and find something to do-not here."

They left, leaving Shockwave alone with his thoughts.


	10. End of Sanctuary

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**End of Sanctuary**

_New Lucifer_

It was a windy day.

Shockwave stood, watching the sky with Red Alert beside him.

"I cannot stay here," he told her, his voice almost inaudible. When she didn't respond to his words, he looked down at her. "Did you hear me?" When she barely nodded, he continued, "I have to return to my duties. It's what matters. You knew it would come to this"

Red Alert shook her head when he took a step forward and she grabbed his hand. "Please, you don't have to!" she insisted, "This war can be avoided completely. We can stay here together. Just you, me-Primus even Hot Shot."

Shockwave took a deep inhale and looked down at her. His voice was low and filled with a strange sort of weariness, as if it took him a great deal of energy to even speak. "No. You were right about what I am, Red Alert," he murmured, "There is nothing for a Decepticon but a horrible end. But that is what I know and that is what it must be."

She shook her head. "No. That's not true and you know it!"

For the moment, the two stared at one another in silence. Shockwave looked down at the hand holding his and how different it was. Two bizarre pieces coming together and yet somehow fitting despite all of their differences. The idea did seem very tempting at first. He stared down at her before looking at the ground, deep in thought before he looked up. His words carried frustration this time and a glimmer of bitterness.

"I can't." he said, turning.

Jhiaxus watched silently the jagged violet shape of the Decepticon warship drop into the field. Megatron appeared shortly afterwards with Lugnut and Blitzwing behind him. He looked momentarily surprised to see the older Decepticon standing before him.

"So it's true what Shockwave has told me," Megatron said, "The legendary Jhiaxus still lives."

Jhiaxus nodded his head. "In some form."

Megatron pressed his hand to his own chest and gave a small bow. It surprised the others to see Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons bow to anyone, regardless of who or what they were. "Truly, it is an honor to meet you at last."

Jhiaxus felt somewhat pleased by Megatron's courtesy, but he knew that it would never be placed upon another save for a Decepticon only. He took a deep inhale and gestured behind him; Shockwave was approaching and dropped to one knee before Megatron.

"Shockwave, you have arrived unharmed?" Megatron said.

"Indeed, Great One," Shockwave told him, lifting his optic slightly. "I am prepared to take my place at your side once more."

Hot Shot and Red Alert looked at each other; Red Alert looked tormented. She took a wary step forward, but Jhiaxus thrust his hand out in front of her to stop her from doing something foolish. It didn't matter because Lugnut had caught the move and gave a deep, heavy growl, raising his massive hands.

"Autobots!" he spat.

Jhiaxus raised his sword at Lugnut's vital Energon lines. "I would not take another step if I were you, Lugnut," he warned.

Megatron seemed more amused by the sight than troubled. He tilted his head, yet made no move forward. "Interesting," he said, looking at Jhiaxus, "You are truly the mighty Jhiaxus as the legends speak of. I suppose the rumors regarding your fall are true after all. Have you lost the taste for battle as they say?"

"This is my planet, Megatron," Jhiaxus warned, "And everything and everyone in it."

"The legends speak of the Great White Lord Jhiaxus who once dominated many stars and galaxies," Megatron said, with a small chuckle, "You are said to be the oldest and most powerful Decepticon to still live. But what are you now?"

Shockwave rose up, attempting to divert attention away from Jhiaxus and the two Autobots. "The Elite Guard will no doubt be here shortly, my lord," he told him, "We should leave before they arrive."

Megatron turned his attention to Red Alert. "What use have you for an Autobot, Shockwave?" he asked.

"She was my slave," Shockwave assured him, "Nothing more."

"Then kill her and the other and we can be going," Megatron ordered, turning. He gestured to Blitzwing. "I've taken the liberty of returning your cannon to you, my most loyal servant."

Blitzwing approached Shockwave and held out the massive cannon to him. The Decepticon took it and attached it back onto his arm. Once he felt certain that it was properly placed there, he turned his attention to Red Alert and raised his cannon at her head. Hot Shot gave an angry shout and attempted to lung, but Jhiaxus grabbed his arms to stop him. Hot Shot furiously thrashed about, trying to be free and shrieking at Shockwave.

"I knew it!" he spat, "A traitor all the way!" He glared back at Jhiaxus. "And you're in on it too, huh? All you Decepticons can rot in Pit!"

"I can assure you that I am not." Jhiaxus argued.

Shockwave ignored Hot Shot and held the cannon in Red Alert's face. She stood calmly, but her gaze was filled with intense pain. A sorrowful smile touched her lips and she barely spoke above a whisper, but enough for Shockwave to hear.

"I know you don't have a choice," she whispered, "It's all right."

Shockwave moved a step closer to her. Jhiaxus and Hot Shot watched, mortified by the possibility that he would take her life, even after what she had done for him.

"Kill her, already." Megatron growled.

Shockwave looked back at him. "My liege, she is nothing to me. Certainly my ammunition could be put to better use."

"Just the same, I'd like you to kill her." Megatron ordered.

Shockwave looked down at Red Alert and slowly started to power up his weapon. She squeezed her optics shut tight and turned her head, anticipating brutal death. After a long moment, the weapon powered down. Hot Shot and Jhiaxus both looked stunned and Red Alert very carefully opened her optics. Shockwave was lowering his weapon and the other Decepticons were clearly stunned by this movement.

"What are you doing?" Megatron snapped.

Shockwave turned to him. "My liege, if I may?"

Megatron offered no argument, but nodded his head with a dark look clouding his features.

"There is an Autobot who would dearly miss this one," Shockwave explained, "The one called Rodimus Prime. We can taken them with us and use them to perhaps...trade for two of our own. I am certain they would want their two favorites back."

Megatron smiled. "Ahh, what an interesting idea you present, Shockwave."

Jhiaxus was staring at Shockwave suspiciously for a long time until he began to understand what the bot was planning and nodded his head slightly.

"Done." he said.

Hot Shot looked shocked and shook his head. "No! Not done!"

Megatron gestured with one hand. "Take them."

Lugnut moved to grab Hot Shot and Blitzwing seized Red Alert. They dragged them on board the warship and left Jhiaxus standing there, watching the scene with pain and anger. Shockwave was the last on board the ship before he looked back at his old teacher with a final glance. Jhiaxus shook his head with disappointment and turned away, showing his back to the other Decepticon in a display of clear shame. Shockwave didn't take any of it to spark. After all...

...he was just an old fool.

O

Blitzwing walked through the corridors and met up with Shockwave.

"How are the prisoners?" Shockwave asked.

Blitzwing tsked. "The one called Red Alert was getting rather...bitey," he said, "I had to gag and cover her optics." Then, his face changed into that maniacal mask. "Whooo! She's quite an animal, no?" He let out a wild laugh and walked away.

Shockwave watched him go with dismay before stepping into Red Alert's cell. Sure enough, she was bound with her arms behind her back to the wall and her mouth and optics covered. He sighed and stepped up. This caused Red Alert's head to lift and she struggled, furiously unleashing a barrage of insults behind the gag. Shockwave shook his head at the pitiful sight, but then he took a step forward again.

"Red Alert, it's me." he said.

The insults stopped and a curious murmur escaped her that he could almost translate into his name.

"We are taking you to Cybertron to exchange you and Hot Shot for Decepticon Intel officers," Shockwave explained.

Red Alert murmured in confusion.

"You're going to be home very soon." Shockwave assured her. He didn't sound too thrilled with the idea; his voice was filled with regret.

Red Alert shook her head pleadingly, making equal sounds behind the gag. Shockwave sighed heavily. "It'll be okay, I promise," he told her, his voice gentle this time, "You'll be home and safe, out of harms way. It's the only best thing for you."

She started to beg him behind the gag.

"It's the right thing for you, Red Alert," Shockwave continued, "That life is the only one for you, not the life of a Decepticon. And you have friends who will no doubt miss you. Your life is perfect as it is without me."

She made a defeated sound and hung her head. From beneath the blindfold, silvery Energon tears trickled down her face.

Shockwave stood silent as he watched her before he slowly reached up with one claw and brushed them away.

"You'll be okay." he promised.

Red Alert shook her head weakly when she heard him leave the cell.

_No, I won't..._

O

The Elite Guard and Megatron stood face-to-face among the empty Space Bridge Nexus. Hot Shot and Red Alert were held tight by Lugnut and Shockwave. Rodimus looked furious to see Red Alert still bound and gagged. Sentinel Prime was holding one of the Decepticon officers in his arms with ease and Rodimus the other. They were still cuffed, so they could not easily make any attempts to behave foolishly.

"Send them over!" Rodimus demanded.

Megatron smirked. "You send ours over first!"

"No!"

Megatron made a mocking, hurt face at the Autobot's words. "Aww, don't trust me?" No response came from the two Autobots and Megatron chuckled. "Smart Autobots." He gestured to Shockwave and Lugnut. "Send them over."

"Yes, Glorious One," Lugnut said.

He shoved Hot Shot across the space between the two factions and the little Autobot yelped, falling flat on his face with an angry curse. Shockwave gave Red Alert a push, but she refused to move, planting her feet firmly down onto the ground. He hissed sharply with anger and a hint of anguish and leaned his head forward, enough to where it would not look too suspicious for his leader and for the Elite Guard standing there.

"Red Alert, don't do this," he whispered fiercely, "You know it's for the best. Now go."

He gave her a harder push that almost knocked her over and she made a sorrowful sound; she stepped in the direction of Rodimus' voice. He caught her in his arms and she immediately tensed. Despite being with Shockwave, Rodimus' touch felt so foreign and strange now. She hoped that he would take off the blindfold and her cuffs so that she could at least take a final look at Shockwave before she could not see him anymore.

She didn't have that blessing because the Decepticons were already leaving with their comrades in tow. She could hear the sound of their ship roaring to life and feel the intense wind of the engines blasting hot air down onto them.

It finally became too much and she dropped to her knees, breaking down behind the blindfold. Once the first hiccucp of despair left her, that was it. Fortunately, the gag muffled most of her sobs and the blindfold soaked up most of her tears. Rodimus bent down to her.

"Red Alert, what's wrong?" he exclaimed, "Are you hurt?"

_Only on the inside..._

Sentinel sighed impatiently. "Let's get them to the medical bay. We have work to do."

O

Red Alert was silent.

Hook performed a scan of her vitals and Rodimus watched her with concern. She had stopped crying by now; her face was still soaked with Energon tears and looked practically emotionless, staring at the floor emptily with no sign of joy, pain or rather anything. Hook was also somewhat concerned about her condition as well, so he performed various scans to make sure he had no missed a single thing. Her vitals looked excellent.

"Well, she's in great shape minus the damaged she took from the Ravage units, but those can heal," he told Rodimus, "Nothing's wrong with her as far as I can attest. But even so, that still doesn't really explain why she's been quiet."

"She's been this way since we picked them up." Rodimus argued.

"I can't scan emotions, Rodimus Prime," Hook snapped, as if his words insulted him.

Rodimus nodded and gave Hook an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," he said, "Let me talk to her."

Hook shrugged his shoulders. "Well, do that then because she won't be fit for work any time soon."

Rodimus watched as Hook disappeared from the medical lab and he turned his attention to Red Alert. "Okay, there are many things that I am used to by now, but the way you've been acting lately..." he began. He shook his head, realizing that he may have started off a bit negative before continuing somewhat more gently. "Red Alert, I can only attribute this to some sort of Decepticon trick, so I am going to go easy on you." No response and Rodimus leaned forward, his optics filled with worry. "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"Red Alert, you have to talk to me," Rodimus begged, "How am I supposed to help you if you don't say anything?"

She met his worried gaze and finally relented with a tired smile. "I'm just a little tired from the trip, that's all," she said, quietly, "I think I need some rest."

Rodimus looked relieved to hear her finally speaking. "Okay, sure. No problem!" he replied, turning. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to contact me."

She smiled weakly and nodded. She did feel somewhat bad for brushing him off too easily. "Thank you."

Rodimus didn't linger for too long and abandoned the medical bay to give her some time alone. It was just as well because as soon as she was certain that he was out of audio-shot, she covered her face in one hand and started to cry.

Meanwhile, on board the Decepticon warship, Shockwave was silently standing over his work station table, arms placed over it. He stared silently down at it, just letting his thoughts wander in places he hoped would just end. No matter what he did, no matter what he willed, his mind went to the smiling, happy Autobot who's optics always lit up when she had seen him. At first, he never noticed it before but now that he thought of it, it was so obvious.

His claws tightened on the table, digging grooves into it.

While he was alone in his lab, Megatron looked back at Blitzwing. "Summon Shockwave to the control room," he ordered.

"Of course." Blitzwing said, turning and walking down the corridors. He approached Shockwave's door and gave it a small knock before entering. He blinked in shock, stunned to find the entire lab completely in disarray. "Uh, Shockwave?"

He found the mech standing calmly over his desk. "Oh, Blitzwing," he said, "What do you want?"

"Uh, Lord Megatron needs you in the control room for planning," Blitzwing told him, still shocked, "What in the name of Primus happened in here?"

"Nothing at all," Shockwave replied, as if the condition of the laboratory was a perfectly natural occurrence and nothing to be alarmed at. "It was just a little...accident. Nothing to be alarmed at. Please inform Lord Megatron that I will be there shortly."

Blitzwing nodded his head. "Very well then." It switched to his maniacal face as he left. "Whooo! He really brought the house down, no?"

As Blitzwing left the laboratory with his wild laughter fading in the distance, Shockwave was finally able to release his death grip on the edge of his desk, leaving wide, jagged marks.

O

Red Alert wasn't thrilled with being sent to the office of the psychologist Muse.

She watched as the bright red and yellow Autobot moved around the office that was filled with colorful paintings and metal decorations. Muse had always been a very questionable Autobot, but not because of any doubts about his loyalty, but his methods. And most individuals tried to avoid him because he had his one hand missing in place of a smaller, jagged one. He was an old Autobot and rumor had it that he had seen entirely too much battle that caused him to just...snap. Red Alert never really enjoyed the suggestion of being in the office as it meant that others considered her to be insane and she just didn't like that at all.

"My dear, Rodimus sent you here because he is worried about you," Muse told her, with a gentle smile on his scarred face. "I am not here to question your sanity, or your loyalty to our cause, but I'm just here as a friend, okay?"

She barely nodded. "Okay..."

Muse smiled and rose from his chair. "Okay, now what I want you to do first is paint me a picture." When she gave him a funny look, he grinned cheerfully, "This is where you can find your soul, if you dare. Don't ask me to show you how to draw what you feel, you will find the answer yourself. Art itself is a fantastic way for one to express what we feel without knowing what those feelings are!"

Red Alert furrowed her brow, watching as Muse picked up something from his desk. "All right then, tell me what you see here!" He held up a smashed model of Cybertron.

"Uh, Cyberton?" Red Alert guessed.

Muse looked pained. "Aww, come on! You're can't tell me the creativity is gone from you already! The passion for your own world is no more?" He gestured to a crack in Cybertron. "You see this? Can you imagine Unicron Himself tearing a hole through our planet? Or maybe Sentinel Prime's great, asteroid-sized chin crushing a crater through Kaon?" He grinned when Red Alert actually laughed. "See? No matter what it is you face, the possibilities are endless if you just try!"

Red Alert shrugged her shoulders. "So what do you want me to do?"

Muse placed the model down and pushed a holo-canvas up to her. "I want you to paint."

Red Alert reluctantly watched him and he grinned, gesturing for her to move. "Come on. Paint your feelings," he told her, "Nothing you say will ever leave this room-well, except with you." He smiled gently. "If somethings eating at you, find a way to use it. Show me what is causing you pain. Paint the truth."

She frowned, but did as Muse requested. She began to paint, but it occurred to her that instead of using her mind, she just allowed her hand to do the work. It was interesting how her mind was not in control of her movements as she splashed colors in front of her. Muse watched the entire time, silent as air, but shifting ever so slightly behind her. She couldn't help but glance back to see his reactions; a soft murmur and a raising of his eyebrow ridges.

"Well, this is rather interesting," Muse said, when she finally finished, "I'm impressed."

Red Alert sighed. "I'm not much of an artist," she argued, "You don't have to oil coat it."

What she had painted was something indeed interesting; a swirl of white and violet that seemed to take the shapes of creatures that resembled Earth's animals. The violet one resembled a broken, tattered wolf smothered in shadow and the white was a weeping bird with golden chains around her wings. Their limbs were joined together in an embrace and both appeared to be holding a small flower between their digits, but the wolf appeared to try and look away. Below them she had painted an endless wasteland filled with what looked like death and destruction. Above the two creatures was an endless bright light that appeared to be her personification of paradise.

And the two creatures trapped between.

"Would you like to know what I see, Red Alert?" Muse questioned.

She nodded.

"I see two people caught up in their own personal war," Muse said, "The creature here in shadow may be the fact that he hides himself from everyone else and the tattered body shows that he may be suffering internally for his lack of emotion to the other creature. The fact that he has his eyes closed and he's looking away proves that. The clutching organic plant in their digits may be a sign of hope through the war they are caught between. A hope that they may both share. Hmm, the white animal is smiling, but she is also weeping. She could be happy where she is, but that happiness hurts just the same. The chains are golden, which could mean that she feels trapped in her own seemingly perfect world and the fact that they are around her wings means she can't hope to leave," He paused before looking down at her. "They are caught between paradise and hell..."

Red Alert didn't speak after he was finished. His words appeared to carry much more knowledge than she wanted.

"Red Alert?" he said, and his voice was serious now.

She looked up at him.

"Who is the one you cannot be with?" Muse asked gently.

He wasn't acting crazy now. He wasn't smiling or laughing. He looked dead serious this time and she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him. But his optics held so much trust and caring that she could not resist anymore.

"Sh-Shockwave."

She expected him to yell, to call her a traitor as the others would have and even look disgusted with her. He did absolutely none of those and instead, he glanced at the painting.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked.

"A long time."

Muse sighed and shut his optics before looking at her. "I take it you were not a prisoner as they say you were."

"No. I definitely was not."

"Hmm..." Muse said, thoughtfully, "This is quite complicated. But if your feelings for him are true, it would be criminal for anyone to treat you as a traitor. Traitorous would be to defy your own feelings. I cannot allow anyone to suffer for that."

Red Alert looked at him hopefully. "So what should I do?"

"I don't know. We will find a way, I promise."

She stood up. "I have to return to my duties." she said. Then, she looked at him beseechingly. "Please, don't tell anyone about this."

Muse gave her a small bow. "From one doctor to another, you have my word."

She smiled weakly and left his office. Muse watched her go before he sighed and slumped into his chair, staring at the painting in front of him.

"This will not end well..." he murmured, with sadness in his optics.


	11. War Within

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**War Within  
><strong>

_Cybertron_

Red Alert was actually relieved to get a warm cup of oil that next morning. Hot Shot was in the lounge, drinking as well when he saw her step inside.

"Hey!" he greeted, "Good morning!"

Red Alert arched her brows. "Oh Primus, what did you do now?" she muttered, expectantly.

Hot Shot snickered and shrugged his shoulders. "Aww, come on. Why is it you always assume the worst with me?"

Red Alert made a face, but sat down beside him. It was empty in the lounge that morning, so at least she wasn't going to worry about being bombarded by questions from her friends or fellow workers. That was a blessing in itself.

"I can't believe what Rodimus went through to persuade the council to let you keep your job," Hot Shot remarked, though he looked somewhat worried just the same, "Or keep you out of jail."

Red Alert rolled her optics. "Yeah, he pretty much had to plead insanity for me."

"Hey, it worked."

Red Alert scowled. "I'm not insane!"

Hot Shot giggled slightly. "Well, you ARE a little-" When he noticed that she was glowering at him, he quickly swallowed his last word before grinning nervously. "-bit of a Primus-damned good medic and someone who won't cause physical harm to her friend?"

Red Alert continued to glare at him until she sighed and shut her optics. "I don't know what to think anymore, Hot Shot," she said, quietly, "I feel like something's pierced my spark. It's becoming more and more unbearable to wake every morning."

Hot Shot sensed how serious she was and his optics slightly widened. "Boy, you've been acting weird since we got home."

"Have I?" Red Alert feigned innocence.

"Something's on your mind," Hot Shot said, skeptically.

_More like someone..._

"I can't tell you," Red Alert told him, standing, "You wouldn't understand."

Hot Shot rose, surprised by the bluntness in her voice. "Come on!" he insisted, "Try me!"

"No."

Hot Shot watched in shock as she walked away, saying nothing more.

Meanwhile, on board Megatron's warship, Shockwave was sitting at his desk, in deep thought. His mind fortunately did not go to Red Alert this time, but to his past under the tutelage of Jhiaxus. His memories of the once proud, dangerous warlord that he had been long before the rise of Megatron. Jhiaxus was NEVER the quiet, reserved mech that he was today; he had almost always been cold, bitter and violent.

_Jhiaxus and Shockwave were sitting along across from one another in the elder's training room. They were taking drinks from their cups and Shockwave was covered in scratches and marks from their recent training run._

_"How does it taste, Shockwave?" Jhiaxus questioned._

_"It is good, Lord Jhiaxus." Shockwave answered. _

_Jhiaxus watched his young pupil for a long time. "You are thinking of her. Your mother."_

_Shockwave said nothing at first and observed the black liquid in the cup. He spoke his words cautiously and slowly. "I wish I could have met her, my Lord." he said, quietly. "Perhaps just once to ask her why she-"_

_"Your mother is dead, Shockwave!" Jhiaxus suddenly barked, his features rigid with anger, "And she had abandoned you and left you to die alone on that street with nothing to live for. Do not dwell on a petty matter like that. Put it aside."_

_"How can I hope to put such emotion aside?" Shockwave snapped back, "How can I do what is needed, when all I feel is... hate?"_

_Jhiaxus sighed and stood up. Shockwave did the same as he had been instructed to do so since he was a youngling. "You are fortunate to have the gift to hide your emotions from others, Shockwave," he told him, "They could consider your facial structure a flaw, but to have the ability to hide it from them is a power all its own. But it's also important for you to never become consumed by your emotion, boy. Emotion will destroy you in the end."_

_The revelation of this seems to sink in to the younger Cybertronian. _

_"You are still very young, Shockwave," Jhiaxus told him, "Still connected to raw emotion despite your attempt to hide it. You unleash your emotions on others in an attempt to destroy them with your blind hatred. Why do you think I gave you that name?"_

_Shockwave didn't answer. _

_Jhiaxus smiled. "My dear boy, you will come to understand in time." he assured him. "Now, let's take a walk."_

_The two left the training hall of Jhiaxus' tower and entered the streets of Kaon, practically alive with Decepticon activity. Jhiaxus was quiet until they made their way through the Decepticon capital and toward Autobot borders. There were two guards standing at the edge and he smiled, a cruel idea clearly making itself present on his features. _

_"Come then," he said, "Show me the way of a cold, efficient killer."_

_Shockwave did as he said and moved swiftly. He drove his claws into the back of one of the guards, killing him instantly; the other attempted to attack with his cannon, but Shockwave moved and slashed him across the face with his other claws. _

_Jhiaxus watched as Shockwave moved toward the guard who was clutching his gushing face. He moaned in pain, writhing on the ground. Jhiaxus chuckled and raised his sword, delivering a sharp blow through his chest that cut through his spark, silencing him immediately. Shockwave watched him as he did._

_"Remember always that there is wisdom in every kill, Shockwave," Jhiaxus told him, "Any victim, be it Cybertronian or otherwise always wears their history in their sparks, flesh or body. Appreciate your victims for the wisdom they grant you."_

_Shockwave made a derisive snort. "Wisdom to be gained in murder?" he snapped._

_"No murder," Jhiaxus assured him. "Only survival."_

_"Only survival..." Shockwave repeated, as if it were a phrase he had to remind himself constantly. _

The memory faded away into Shockwave's mind. It was hard to believe that he had once been so naive. So young.

_"Shockwave!"_ Megatron's voice interrupted him of his thoughts.

Shockwave looked down and noticed Megatron's face on his monitor. "Yes, Great One?" he said.

_"Report to me immediately. There is something that we must discuss."_

Shockwave nodded his head. "As you command."

He stood up and walked out of his lab, down the corridors and to the control room of the ship. Megatron was standing before the great windows of the ship, his arms folded behind his back. He seemed to be pleased with something.

"You've called, my lord?" Shockwave said.

"Shockwave, come here."

The Decepticon Intel officer approached his leader and nearly stumbled over one of the steps in the process. Megatron watched him with an optic ridge raised. "Is there something troubling you, Shockwave?" he asked, his voice even.

"No. No, my liege," Shockwave answered, flustered.

Megatron smiled and turned to him. "Oh, but there is. I know there is."

"W-What do you mean?" Shockwave asked, somewhat concerned by that sudden malicious smile on Megatron's face.

"I think...you're hiding something."

Shockwave shook his head a little too rapidly. He felt his spark grow cold. If Megatron had any reason whatsoever to suspect anything that had happened between himself and Red Alert, there would definitely be consequences. "Oh, no, master. There's nothing-"

"You've been in your laboratory for a long time, Shockwave," Megatron interrupted, "Tell me, is there anything that I should know?"

Around them, Decepticons were immediately halting themselves in their tasks, watching the interaction and wondering just what was going to happen. Megatron didn't appear to be angry and was watching him calmly the entire time.

"You haven't had nourishment in several solar cycles," Megatron added. He tsked and looked around, as if something was off. "What's different about you?"

Shockwave shook his head, trying to keep his voice calm. "Nothing, my liege."

Then, Blitzwing stepped into the control room, holding something in his hands. "Lord Megatron, every room and office is clean, but I did find this in Shockwave's laboratory desk." he told him, offering Megatron the data pad that had Red Alert's visage recorded on it. Shockwave's spark nearly froze.

Megatron arched his brows. "What's this, Shockwave?" he asked.

"Just a spare bit of recording from my infiltration of the Elite Guard, master."

Shockwave attempted to make it sound as if it were nothing, but he knew-at least a part of him knew-that Megatron had suspected more. He watched as Megatron tapped a button on it and watched the recording of Red Alert play out. His face was unreadable for several moments until it ended and a slow smirk slithered onto his face. Megatron rarely smiled, so when he did, usually it was never a good sign at all.

"Oh, you know, I think I remember now," he said, "I thought the female looked familiar. The Elite Guard reported that she and her little Autobot comrade had been marooned on that organic planet with you. Yet, she clearly came out of it alive. I know..." Shockwave's optic narrowed as Megatron took a menacing step forward, clutching the pad so tight that it was crushed. A nasty look crept across his face as his voice began to rise. "You helped her _escape_!"

He slammed his fist down on one of the consoles and Shockwave staggered back.

"Master, I-" he began.

"YOU'RE A FOOL, SHOCKWAVE!" Megatron bellowed, fury in his voice as he stepped over and seized Shockwave by the throat, "TO SPARE AN AUTOBOT, EVEN A WORTHLESS MEDIC IN ANY REGARD IS AN ACT OF TREASON!"

Blitzwing laughed sarcastically and arched an optic ridge. "Over a female. Really?" he added, with cruel amusement, "I knew you were infiltrating the ranks of the Autobots but..." He grimaced and made a creeped-out gesture with his hands, "I hope you didn't catch anything."

"He was infiltrating a lot more than just the Elite Guard!" another Decepticon sneered.

Shockwave grunted sharply, grabbing at the hand that gripped his throat. "My liege, I would NEVER betray you!" he choked.

Megatron glowered down at him menacingly for a long time before he took a moment to recompose himself. He cleared his vocal apparatus and released Shockwave, straightening. He approached the windows of the ship and placed his arms behind his back.

"Lord Megatron," Shockwave breathed, his neck wires sore, "I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. Nothing has changed, regardless of my...past mistakes. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission."

"Do you now?" Megatron said, his voice low and calm once again; he chuckled briefly, "Ah, I do not entirely blame you for this. Females have a way of getting under your armor, regardless of who and what they are. Never you mind, Shockwave. They will all be out of our lives soon enough."

Shockwave stood up and rubbed his neck joints. "What do you mean, my liege?"

Megatron smirked and gestured to a monitor. Shockwave approached it and noticed that it displayed an image of Cybertron. "You see, Shockwave; I have stretched my hand out to other forces across the galaxy. By the next solar cycle, we will attack Cybertron and the Autobots with tens of thousands of soldiers willing to stand by me."

Shockwave sounded stunned. "But my lord, there is no such force able to-"

Megatron smirked at him and pressed a button on one of the consoles. Immediately, literally thousands of ships winked into existence around his warship. Shockwave watched in disbelief as many warships appeared. He had not expected such a possibility to see this great of an army.

"No longer will the Elite Guard think they can police the galaxy forever," Megatron told him, "They had scattered the Decepticon armies across this universe, but we have come together again. And this time, Cybertron will be ours."

O

Red Alert was standing silently before the great statue of Ultra Magnus.

He looked so proud, even immortalized in stone; a warrior meant to protect Cybertron from the Decepticons. But why did this awesome image meant to inspire only cause her spark to ache with great pain? After seeing the world from the other side, her own life felt like a terrible lie. Behind her, Muse approached and smiled slightly at the statue. The two were silent before Muse spoke. His voice was soft and gentle.

"Quite an inspiring image, isn't he?" he said.

"Yes. I suppose he is."

Muse sighed. "It's a pity of his condition. He will never rule properly again," he murmured, "But you did everything you could."

"Why are you here, Muse?"

She hadn't intended for it to sound rude, but it may have come out that way given Muse's surprised look. "I'm sorry, Red Alert," he said, "But I've watched you wither in despair these passed several cycles. You must speak up."

Red Alert sighed. "If only it was that easy."

"It can be."

"No, it can't."

Then, Rodimus walked out to the courtyard. "Red Alert." he called.

The two turned.

"What is it, Rodimus Prime?" Muse asked, smiling.

Rodimus blatantly ignored him and gestured to Red Alert with one hand. His features looked grim. "Come with me, now." he ordered. He turned without waiting for any kind of response from her and walked back the way he had come.

Muse looked surprised and glanced at Red Alert. Her lips pulled into a tight line, but she followed him anyway. He led her into the council's chambers and the rest of Team Athenia was there along with many other members of the Elite Guard. They were standing before an enormous security monitor that displayed an image of Megatron's warship hovering close to Cybertron. Red Alert was shocked to see it.

"Megatron's warship was spotted in Cybertron's orbit just a few moments ago," Alpha Trion announced, "He has made no attempts to attack."

Sentinel scoffed. "Of course he wouldn't!" he snapped, "He's not THAT stupid!" He scoffed and threw his arms in the air. "And why was this information NOT brought to my attention yesterday? There's no way that his ship could-"

"WE HAVE HAD NO DECEPTICON READINGS TO REPORT ON THE PREVIOUS DAY, SENTINEL PRIME," Perceptor interrupted, "HIS SHIP HAD MADE AN APPEARANCE JUST EARLY THIS MORNING. HE HAS MADE NO EFFORT TO MOVE IN."

Sentinel scowled furiously. "Once again, these are things that could have been brought to my attention _yesterday_!" he snapped.

Hot Shot whispered sidelong to Red Alert. "If I didn't know better-which I probably don't-I'd say that things are going to take a turn from the bad to the straight up UGLY." he whispered, "Megatron's not dumb enough to attack with only one ship. There's got to be more."

Red Alert nodded her head. "We'll think of something..."

The group watched the screen as Megatron's smirking visage appeared. It caused them to scowl and shift at the sight of him. _"Hello, Autobot council,"_ he greeted, in a dark, amused voice, _"I take it you can see me from down there. How is the view, if I may be so bold?"_

Sentinel pointed at him. "Are you malfunctioning, Megatron?" he snapped, "We have anti-aircraft weapons pointed directly at you as we speak! If you so much as wink, we're going to open fire!"

Megatron laughed mirthfully. _"I'd love to see you try!"_ he hissed.

The council whispered to one another, shocked by Megatron's audacity. Didn't he realize that he was at a disadvantage?

Just then, Botanica's voice picked up. "Alpha Trion?" she said, "I'm reading multiple signals in orbit!"

Alpha Trion furrowed his brow, staring at his monitor at his podium, confused. "There's nothing but Megatron's ship," he argued.

"Then send the message to every turret!" Sentinel bellowed, "Take out Megatron's ship on my command!"

Just then, the frightened voice of Cliffjumper filled the air. "Uh, Sentinel Prime sir?"

Sentinel whirled impatiently. "What?" he barked.

Megatron's warship was making a high-speed motion directly for Cybertron. Sentinel looked momentarily confused, and then he smirked, as if he realized that this would no doubt be an easy win for him. He raised his hands and bellowed out.

"LOCK ON!" he shouted.

All around Fortress Maximus, the guns were turning and locking on Megatron's ship. Onboard the ship, Megatron was grinning madly. His optics were practically blazing with murder.

Behind him, several of his ships winked into existence, also heading straight at Cybertron. Sentinel's optics widened and his triumphant smile disappeared from his face. Everyone in the council hall looked horrified for a few moments.

"Oh slag..." Hot Shot gasped.

Cliffjumper looked at Sentinel in fright. "Sir?" he stammered.

Sentinel went ballistic now with fright and anger. "TARGET THOSE SHIPS!" he roared, gesturing to Cliffjumper, "TARGET EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! SOMEBODY FRAGGING SHOOT THEM!"

The turrets of Fortress Maximus fired rounds of laser fire at the ships. Red Alert's optics widened and she clasped a hand over her mouth, watching as Megatron's warship spun through the air with liquid grace, avoiding the gunfire. Several laser shots struck a few surroundings ships, but not enough to slow them down. Sentinel's optics widened in fury and hysteria and he glowered at Cliffjumper , throwing his arms in the air.

"Why aren't these fragging ships going down?" he demanded.

Perceptor was typing on his keyboard. "THE SHIPS ARE ARMED WITH A HIGH-FREQUENCY DEFENSE MECHANISM. IT IS NOT OF CYBERTRONIAN DESIGN."

"I don't give a frag about that!" Sentinel roared, "Take these ships out! They can't be allowed to reach Cybertron!"

It was too late to hope for that because several of the warships were already there and Decepticon rebels were pouring from them, armed and screaming for the Energon of the Autobots. They began their assault by working their way toward the courtyards of Iacon. The council hall was dead with silence before Alpha Trion spoke.

"Primus..."

But Primus did not answer. The only sounds they could hear were of Energon-thirsty warriors and the screams of the dying.


	12. Hell's Descent

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Hell's Descent**

_Cybertron_

Cybertron was in chaos.

Decepticons and Autobots were at war with one another; laser fire tore through the air, lighting up the darkened sky in a colorful aura. Hot Shot and Red Alert quickly made their way with the rest of their team out into the city of Iacon.

"We're going to die out here, aren't we?" Hot Shot said.

"We may." Red Alert replied, her voice quiet and resigned.

Hot Shot scowled and raised his torches. "Frag that! I'm not going to die today!"

Red Alert looked around, hoping to catch sight of Shockwave alive and in one piece through the chaos. She couldn't very well spend time in the middle of battle being distracted, but her mind...she was only concerned for him and him alone.

Then, the sound of Rodimus' voice filled her COM-link. _"Red Alert, I need medical support, NOW!" _he shouted, _"Ironhide's been hit by Decepticon snipers. Hurry!"_

Red Alert immediately transformed and rushed to the location where Rodimus was. Hot Shot followed her. They dodged laser fire and debris from fallen buildings in the process and ended up in an alley where Rodimus, Brawn and Ironhide were taking cover. Red Alert immediately went to his side to survey his damages. A sniper shot had punctured Ironhide's armor through his chest and as she scanned him, she realized that it had barely missed his spark chamber by inches.

"The shot punctured clean through," she told him, "You're primary functions are only operating at forty percent. But you're going to be fine once I-"

A shot rang out and sent rubble raining down on them. Rodimus winced, raising his arm to shield his head before looking at Brawn.

"Get him out of here!" he shouted, gesturing to Ironhide.

The mech groaned in protest. "I can still fight, sir!" he argued.

Red Alert nodded her head and rushed out to the Autobot troops. "ALL WOUNDED, HEAD BACK TO THE FORTRESS!" she commanded. "Barricade the doors!"

Immediately, several Autobots who had been wounded in the fight made their way toward Fortress Maximus. Decepticon warriors were also making their way toward them through the fallen bodies and trampling through puddles of shed Energon.

"Everybody inside!" Rodimus bellowed, "Now!"

Megatron observed the gruesome scene of death from his warship, amused. "They are retreating into Fortress Maximus." he said, "Soon, they will fall!" He raised his hand and let out a powerful command. "SEND OUT THE RAVAGE UNITS!"

Below, an entire wave of Ravage units began their charge through Iacon. The Autobot warriors charged them and they crashed head on with the Ravage units as their brutal fight began. Hot Shot was the last one behind the group making their way into Fortress Maximus and whirled, as a snarling Ravage feline approached. He smirked and raised his torches.

"Come on!" he taunted, "Bring that pretty face here!"

The Ravage dove at him with a fierce roar, but another shape moved between them, one that caused Hot Shot's optics to grow wide in disbelief.

It was Jhiaxus.

He drove his swords deep into the Ravage's mouth and ripped, splitting its head in two pieces. The creature collapsed to the ground. Jhiaxus gave it a small kick with disgust in his optics. "Filthy, Energon-thirsty beast!" he spat.

Hot Shot couldn't believe his optics. "Jhiaxus? What the slag are you doing here?"

Jhiaxus looked at him with a weary smile. "Putting an end to this, once and for all."

O

Jhiaxus' presence was not entirely welcome.

"I know what I've done in the past," Jhiaxus told the Autobots, "But I've come to help."

Sentinel snorted gruffly. "We don't need help from any Decepticon!" he snapped, "Regardless of whether or not you've changed. You've betrayed your cause, what's stopping you from simply turning on us too?" He chuckled maliciously and clenched his fists. "You can't imagine how long we've waited for the chance to finally put an end to the legendary Jhiaxus."

Jhiaxus gave him a dark look, one that actually made him look very disturbing. "Really? I haven't given you a second thought." He sheathed his swords behind his back and shook his head. "I offer my services to Red Alert and my student Shockwave. Not to you."

Rodimus stepped forward, suspicious now. "Why?" he snapped.

Jhiaxus looked back at Red Alert, surprised. "You did not tell them?" he asked, his voice lower now.

All optics in the great hall landed on Red Alert now. Some of them murmured quietly in confusion where others stared at her harshly with cold accusation. Rodimus was one of them; he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"What does he mean, Red Alert?" Rodimus demanded.

Red Alert looked at Jhiaxus for some kind of help, but he closed his optics briefly before giving her a reassuring look. She sighed and looked at the others.

"Shockwave was never my captor on that planet," she told them, "And I was never in harms way from him at all." She smiled weakly. "On the contrary, we've become closer in that time than I've led any of you to believe. Very close."

Jetfire and Jetstorm looked at each other with murmurs of confusion.

Jazz's face was a mask of thought before he stepped forward. "What are you saying, miss?" he asked, carefully, "You can't tell me ya' dig that Decepticon."

Red Alert didn't reply, she just closed her optics and looked away.

Sentinel was the first to speak up, laughing angrily. "I don't believe what I'm hearing!" he spat, taking a step forward, "She's got feelings for a Decepticon!"

Jhiaxus glowered at him. "It's much more than petty feelings!"

Hot Shot grinned nervously and shook his head, stepping beside Red Alert. "Now, now," he stammered, "There's no need to be hasty. My client here pleads 'insanity'."

Sentinel didn't listen to the pleas as usual and Red Alert caught Rodimus' horrified, wounded look. "She's a traitor!" Sentinel shouted, taking a step forward, "Let's push them both out of there and send them back where they belong!"

Several Autobots began to move forward and Red Alert held up her hands desperately. "Please, don't!" she begged, "You don't understand!"

Jhiaxus pushed Red Alert behind him and drew his swords, pointing them at the advancing group. "I will run anyone through with my blades; anyone who so much as lays a single servo on her!" he spat, his features rigid with fury.

The threat obviously sunk in because every advancing bot froze where they stood. Sentinel looked cautious, but smirked arrogantly.

"You can't take us all on," he snapped.

Jhiaxus arched his brows angrily. "Really, you foolish bigot?" he sneered, "I've fought hundreds on my own before and those with much more respect to their enemies than you. What makes you think I cannot take a few ignorant Autobots?" His swords remained level at them. "I will be honest with all of you right now; I have no regrets about running any single one of you arrogant savages through if I have to. Regrettably, I may even enjoy it."

Rodimus met Red Alert's gaze. "So this is what you choose then?" he said, his voice low with anger and pain, "To him? To be a traitorous thing to a Decepticon?"

Red Alert looked back at him, her optics firm and decided. "I'd rather be his traitorous thing than your slave."

Rodimus looked stung by this before he glared at Hot Shot. "Did you know about this?" he demanded.

Hot Shot held his hands in the air. "Don't look at me, Rodimus!" he protested, "You know I'm not a credible source of information! I had no idea!"

Jhiaxus scowled at the interaction before turned and gestured to the walls of the fortress. "Megatron's troops are relentless," he told the room, "We cannot hope to keep safety here forever. They will take Cybertron by any means necessary, regardless of what destruction they leave. What is destroyed can be rebuilt, but that is not why they've come. They will not cease their tiresome war until every last Autobot is fallen or slaughtered."

Alpha Trion actually took a step forward. "What would we do, Lord Jhiaxus?" he asked.

Sentinel looked stunned by Alpha Trion's proper address. "What? We can't side with this Decepticon!"

Jhiaxus whirled on him. "There isn't time for your petty squabbles," he snapped, "Personally, I don't really care what you think of me. But try to look beyond your own selfish endeavors and think of your fellow _Cybertronians_." He turned and looked down at Red Alert. "You and I will find Shockwave."

She grinned and nodded, elated. "Okay."

Rodimus stepped forward. "You can't do this!"

"Are you going to stop me, Rodimus?" Red Alert asked, stepping forward; her optics shone pain and regret, but honesty, true honesty, "If you want to stop me, then I'm afraid you will have to kill me. Because I've made my decision to be with the one I want. And Shockwave is that one."

Rodimus looked stunned. "I would never do that!"

"Then step aside and let me do this," Red Alert told him, sternly. She looked at Hot Shot. "Are you coming with us?"

He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. "Nah-ah!" he said, "Not this time!"

Red Alert actually looked sad about that. "But you're my friend, Hot Shot."

He made a mocking little dance and waved his hands in the air. "Oooooooo! Look at that! I'm her friend, she says!" he crowed, looking at the others, "Somebody tie a pretty little ribbon around me and speckle me with pretty glitter!"

Red Alert sighed and looked up at Jhiaxus. "I guess it's just you and me."

The two turned and removed the barricades set up at the front doors. Hot Shot stood there, fidgeting for several moments as they disappeared outside before he groaned in frustration and threw his arms in the air.

"Great. Now _I'm_ the bad guy..." he griped, following them. "Hang on! I'm coming!"

Rodimus watched them go, unable to process what had just happened.

"Sir, should we follow?" Cliffjumper asked, looking at him.

Rodimus' face hardened and he shook his head. "No. Let's prepare to launch our assault on the Decepticon troops." he told him, his voice suddenly colder than ice, "She's made her choice. Let her die in any way she sees fit."

O

Jhiaxus, Red Alert and Hot Shot made their way through a seemingly abandoned Cybertronian highway.

"So, you've got a thing for the emotionally-crippled Cyclops, huh?" he muttered, kicking a piece of rubble absently with his foot, "That's great. Frankly, I'm too scared to ask about what the two of you've been doing when I'm not around."

Jhiaxus looked back at him. "You didn't know?"

"I NEVER know what she's doing." Hot Shot retorted.

Red Alert sighed impatiently. "Gentlebots? I'm standing right here..."

Jhiaxus looked around, sensing something wrong about the silence. "Some of the troops may have moved on," he said.

"Do you think you know where Shockwave is?" Red Alert asked.

"If I know my young student," Jhiaxus replied, "Then he will no doubt have been sent to free the remaining prisoners at Trypticon Prison. Once we find him, then perhaps he can be reasoned with. I only hope so, anyway."

Red Alert looked at him. "He's afraid."

"Shockwave knows no fear in most regard, Red Alert," Jhiaxus told her, "You see, my young pupil is afraid of one thing; losing himself. Everything that he had always known in his life. Passing all boundaries of his will. All time. He fears being so embroiled in his emotions, his feelings for you that he cannot make a logical decision. Perhaps such sweet confusion becomes so intense for him that he would only hope for a way to make that end."

Hot Shot sighed and rolled his optics. "Can't we ever have anything that _doesn't _end in gruesome death?" he snapped.

Jhiaxus made an amused sound, though it seem carefully concealed by bitterness. "Then it wouldn't be reality, would it?"

There was a low rumbling sound that froze them where they stood. Several Decepticon warriors were surging toward them; Jhiaxus could count at least five. He scowled and raised his swords, looking back at Hot Shot and Red Alert.

"Both of you, go!" he commanded, "I will hold them off!"

Hot Shot scowled and raised his torches. "Are you insane?" he exclaimed, "Those guys are HUGE!"

"I can manage on my own, now go!" Jhiaxus ordered.

Hot Shot and Red Alert watched in shock as Jhiaxus hacked his way at the Decepticons.

"We can't let him do this alone!" Red Alert cried.

Jhiaxus brutally drove his blades through the final Decepticon's chest, sending a shower of sparks flying. The Decepticon gave a dying scream and dropped into a pile of lifeless metal and Energon. Jhiaxus stared down at the fallen corpses and took several breaths through his intakes. He turned toward the watchers and they smiled with relief.

"Wow, you're a one bot army!" Hot Shot said, grinning.

Jhiaxus gave a weak chuckle. "Let's go."

Behind him a Decepticon rose with its own blade drawn slowly. Red Alert and Hot Shot's optics widened in horror and their smiles disappeared.

"JHIAXUS!" Red Alert shouted, "NO!"

Jhiaxus sensed the presence of the Decepticon too late. He turned and the Decepticon shoved his weapon clear through Jhiaxus' chest, lifting the elder off of his feet. Jhiaxus stared down at the sword through his chest in disbelief, Energon gushing from his mouth. He raised his shaking servos to the blade in a weak attempt to grab it.

"Traitor!" the Decepticon snarled.

Red Alert's optics widened in horror and her hands shot up to her mouth.

Hot Shot moved quickly and raised his torches sending a searing blast at the Decepticon's head, scorching his face and blinding him. The Decepticon roared in agony and recoiled, yanking the sword from Jhiaxus' body in the process. Red Alert ran up to him and caught him in her arms as he collapsed. Hot Shot and the blinded Decepticon fought while Red Alert attempted to keep Jhiaxus' spark chamber fluids from leaking. She pressed a hand to his chest.

"Oh Primus, we-we have to stop the wound from leaking!" Red Alert gasped. Her voice started breaking as she struggled to keep herself calm. "I-I don't have the right tools. W-We need to go back to Iacon and-"

Jhiaxus' optics were unfocused as he clutched his chest. "Please, don't..." he panted, "I'm finished, Red Alert. But I'm happy for it."

"Why?" Red Alert asked, her voice struggling to maintain its strength, "Why would you be happy to die?"

Hot Shot had sent out a searing blast from his torches and struck the Decepticon in the chest, sending him roaring over the edge of the highway. He laughed furiously, calling down to the fallen warrior. "Haha! You should see your face, you pile of scrap!" he shouted, "Because you look-" He cut himself off and looked over at the condition of Jhiaxus, the humor fading from his voice. His features were serious now. "...ridiculous."

Jhiaxus smiled weakly up at Red Alert. "I can finally be with her, my beloved..." he whispered, "And I can finally die in peace...knowing that you...and my student..." His optics widened and he expelled Energon from his mouth, choking and straining in agony. It was a terrible sight to see him gag on his own fluids.

"Jhiaxus..." Red Alert said, her optics nearly brimming.

Jhiaxus' head rolled back, his optics unseeing. He appeared to stare through her and at that moment, Red Alert could see true peace and joy in his gaze. "My love...wait for me... I will be with you..." he whispered, "Wait...for..."

A weak smile touched his lips and finally, his head rolled to the side and his optics closed. His body went limp and the sound of his internals winding down filled the air. Red Alert bowed her head in grief and Hot Shot lowered his head as well.

"Hot Shot, please," Red Alert said, looking up at him, "Take Jhiaxus' body to Iacon. Make sure he receives a proper memorial."

Hot Shot watched as she gently placed Jhiaxus' body onto the ground. "What?" he exclaimed, "Where are YOU going?"

"I'm going to find Shockwave."

"You're nuts!" Hot Shot cried, "You go out there on your own and you're dead!"

Red Alert let that sink in for a moment and considered the severity of what she was about to do. She shut her optics before she looked back at Hot Shot. "I can't go back, not after what I did," she told him, "This is the only way."

Hot Shot genuinely looked concerned. "Red Alert, you can't do this alone."

"I have to."

Hot Shot shook his head. "At least take this then..."

He reached behind his back and removed a small laser pistol, offering it to her. She reached out to take it, but Hot Shot wouldn't release his grip on the gun, as if he was desperately trying to keep her from going off on her own one last time. Red Alert gave him a gentle, yet stern look. He looked back, his optics silently pleading with her not to go through with it. She tugged harder and yanked the gun from his hand.

"Don't do this," he pleaded gently, "As a friend, I'm not asking. I'm not messing around anymore. I'm serious."

"So am I." Red Alert told him. She transformed and sat there for a long time. "Goodbye, Hot Shot."

He watched as she rode away and he watched her go, despair in his optics.

"Bye..."


	13. Illusion of Heaven

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Illusion of Heaven**

_Cybertron_

Red Alert clung to the shadows, her pistol held close.

The streets were as silent and lifeless as a graveyard, but she had a feeling that the silence was attributed to the death that lingered all around her. She shakily stepped over dead, mutilated Cybertronians and scrapped parts of the fallen to avoid trampling on their bodies.

"Oh Primus..." she whispered.

The menacing sound of battle echoed behind her; it wasn't very far from her position, but it was at a reasonable distance to where she didn't feel too concerned by it at the moment. As long as she kept moving, she wouldn't have much to worry about.

On the positive side, being alone did give her time to consider what she had done earlier ago. By leaving the fortress, had she really made herself out to be a traitor to her comrades? Of course she wasn't a traitor! She was just following what her spark wanted and not what Cybertron wanted out of her. That had to be the right choice in itself. Otherwise, spending the rest of her existence lying to herself would be the only traitorous crime she could have ever committed.

Red Alert made her way through the streets before stopping to cast her gaze beyond an enormous gorge. There, she had a good view of Kaon; there were several towers of smoke in the distance as well as laser fire blasting through the air. She furrowed her brow and attempted to get a better view of Trypticon Prison, but the ground at her feet faltered and crumbled away and she was plummeting to her death below, letting out a piercing shriek in the process.

"Oh...PRIMUS!" she screamed, grabbing at the edge of the broken street before she was scrap.

Red Alert dangled there above the black, seemingly endless chasm, gritting her teeth with effort. Her gun had fallen into the abyss and she was helplessly hanging there, begging to Primus above not to let her die here and now. Her fingers began to slip on the rock and she moaned desperately.

"No...no..." she begged.

Just as she started to slip further into oblivion, a clawed hand suddenly shot down and seized her wrist. Her optics widened in disbelief at first and looked up into the familiar gaze of Shockwave. She looked surprised for a few mere nanoklicks before grinning, thinking she'd never lay her optics on him ever again.

"Shockwave!"

He grunted sharply, gripping a jutting street post to keep himself from falling with her. "I've got you!" he hissed, with effort.

He eventually yanked her up back over the edge and onto the street and they fell together in a tangled heap. Red Alert quickly regained her shaken composure and threw her arms around him, holding tight and never wanting to let go again. He seemed startled by the action for a few moments.

"Shockwave..." she moaned, tears threatening to burst from her optics, "Oh Primus, it's horrible!"

"What is?" Shockwave asked, reaching his own arms around her.

She parted and looked up at him with despair. "It's Jhiaxus. Jhiaxus is dead!" she told him; she watched a sort of fire flicker across that single optic momentarily, "He came here to help us stop all of this and we were looking for you and on the way, he..." She cut herself off and choked back a small cry before looking back up at him. "I'm sorry, Shockwave. I tried to help him, but he would not have it. He wanted his death. I couldn't-"

Shockwave raised a single claw to her lips. "Hush." he ordered, in a softer voice now. He studied her up and down for the longest time before speaking again and his words carried fascination and surprise, "You've come all this way to find me. I do not know whether to consider you foolish or courageous. Had I not run into that little menace Hot Shot on the broken highway and he told me where you were, Primus only knows what sort of trouble you would have found yourself in."

Red Alert's optics widened. "Hot Shot?"

And right on cue, Hot Shot appeared from behind a pile of rubble, chuckling. He folded his arms across his chest and gave her a playful smirk. "Hey there, Red Alert. You didn't think I'd just leave you to go off on your own, did you?" he said.

Red Alert frowned and stood up as Shockwave did. "Hot Shot. I thought I told you to-"

He shrugged with an amused smirk and waved her off with one hand. "You tell me a lot of things, but that doesn't mean I have to listen."

Red Alert made a face at that before she looked up at Shockwave. "I told them all that I'd rather be with you," she whispered, leaning close to put her arms around him again, "I tried to make sense of it every day, but I just couldn't. I want to be with you."

Shockwave sighed, as if releasing a heavy burden. "In a sense, I did the very same, Red Alert," he said, quietly, "I suppose that is also why I came looking for you as well." He watched as she looked at him sharply with amazement and continued. "Given the fact that in these past few solar cycles, I have been unable to properly function with your absence always on my processor, I thought it necessary to...locate my source of work ambition again."

Red Alert's smile could not have been any more radiant.

Hot Shot grimaced at the sight and rolled his optics. "Uh, hey lovebirds?" he said, "If it's all the same, I'd like to get going any time soon."

Looking down at the scene from atop of a broken tower was Rodimus. He watched as Red Alert happily wrapped her arms around Shockwave and his features slowly twisted in an attempt to control his growing rage. Jetstorm and Jetfire flew up behind him and Jetstorm put a restraining hand on his friend, sensing that Rodimus was losing control to his emotions. It didn't help as Rodimus' body seized with a brutal snarl and he grabbed his bow and explosive arrows.

Shockwave looked up and caught sight of the Autobot as soon as he dove down from his perch, dropping to the highway. Then, he raised his weapon directly at them. Screaming in raw fury, he fired three arrows at the Decepticon.

The streetlight near Shockwave's head exploded in a burst of heat and shrapnel, sending rubble raining onto them. Hot Shot gave a shocked cry and looked back toward the source.

"Oh slag, Rodimus' lost it!" he cried, "Run!"

Shockwave shook his head and stood in a defensive position. He was wary of Rodimus' skills; having witnessed the extent of them from the space bridge. But he was not going to simply run away for any reason. "No. If the fool wishes to fight, I'd be happy to oblige!" he hissed.

Hot Shot laughed nervously and slapped at Shockwave's arm with one hand. "As much as I'd like to see you two go at it until you turn gunmetal gray, now's not the time given your injuries!" he spat, gesturing to Shockwave's slightly damaged form.

Red Alert looked down and now took notice to Shockwave's condition. He had various cracks in his armor and burn marks where lasers had hit him. There were also scratches and deep cuts in his arms and legs. How could she have missed that?

"Let's go, Shockwave!" she insisted, "Just run!"

They transformed and immediately pulled away into another street, but given Shockwave's alternate mode, there was no way that he could keep up. Rodimus was right behind them, raising more arrows in a frenzied attempt to take Shockwave out. Fortunately, in his blind fury, he missed Shockwave and took out a portion of a building. Seeing that it was pointless to try in his alt mode, Shockwave transformed and ran.

Luck for the three runners; in his fury, Rodimus stepped on a piece of rubble and went sprawling in an ungraceful to the ground. His arrows and bow clattered across the dirt. He struggled to retrieve it as fast as he could, but he looked up and noticed that they were long gone. He clenched his teeth and screamed after them.

"ENJOY YOUR LIVES TOGETHER!" he raged. He laughed angrily, borderline hysterical before scrambling to his feet and thrusting his finger in their direction. "I HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH OTHER IN THE HELL HE'S CREATED, RED ALERT!"

The parting words of the Autobot commander struck something cold in Red Alert's spark.

O

They had walked for what felt like many groons before Hot Shot's optics widened as he stared ahead. He finally stopped and arched his optic ridges.

"Uh, a question just popped up in my processor, Red Alert," he said, his tone dripping with unease, "Just how far are you willing to go for Cyclops?"

Red Alert frowned. "I'd die trying to do whatever it takes."

Hot Shot grinned nervously and arched his optic ridges. "Oh good. Then you won't have to wait much longer."

They looked up to see what he was talking about and noticed several Autobot troopers approaching, armed heavily and ready to kill. Hot Shot raised his torches and looked back at the two as they prepared for a fight as well.

"Go on! I'll see if I can keep these crazy fraggers off your afts for a while!" he told them.

Red Alert looked stunned. "Hot Shot...?"

He flashed her a grin. "Go on and be happy, crazy woman." he remarked.

Shockwave looked at Red Alert and gestured with a flirt of his head. She gave Hot Shot a sorrowful smile before following him down another alleyway. Hot Shot just chuckled softly to himself, watching as the Autobot troopers charged in.

"Bring it..." he said.

The Autobots surrounded him and leveled their weapons at his vulnerable locations. Hot Shot just smiled calmly and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. As the Autobots slapped stais cuffs on his wrists and ushered him away, he looked over his shoulder and smiled sadly.

"Be happy, Red Alert." he said, to himself.

And the Autobots angrily dragged him off; for whatever punishment he was more than willing to accept this time. Whatever it took to make his dear friend smile and be happy again.

That was what mattered.

O

Shockwave and Red Alert made their way to Trypticon Prison. They were silent and carefully observing their surroundings before Red Alert couldn't take the silence any longer. She stopped and Shockwave did after he realized she was no longer following him.

"I feel horrible for this, Shockwave..." she said, quietly.

"For what?" he asked.

"For betraying my friends. I know I became desperate and selfish. But I couldn't..."

Shockwave tilted his head, somewhat surprised by her words. "Selfish would be to deny yourself for them," he told her, "Selfish would be to endure their countless follies when they yield no better results. It's about time that you thought of yourself for a change."

Red Alert arched her optic ridges at the idea before she grew silent. Shockwave took her silence as a means of accepting his response and continued forward. Red Alert followed at his side and they made their way toward Trypticon prison's main gates.

"We are here to free the prisoners," Shockwave told her, "You can come with me or remain."

She frowned up at him.

"I do not wish to violate any delicate Autobot sensitivities you may still possess," Shockwave said; it was difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Either way, I am here on a mission for Lord Megatron to free the prisoners."

Red Alert hesitated, watching as he started toward the prison. She was alone for a short minute before deciding to join him.

Inside was what appeared to be the remains of battle. They pushed their way passed the mess and could make out the sounds of screaming below and rushed down a stairwell, only to find several Decepticon prisoners packed tightly behind a cell gate. They were yelling and screaming wildly to be let out while two Autobot guards watched them, taunting with cold sneers. Red Alert couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Why don't you try begging for your lives, you pathetic wastes of metal?" one of the guards sneered.

Red Alert pushed them aside. "What the slag are you doing?" she demanded.

One of the Decepticons in the crowd was leaking Energon from a wound in his chest while others were tending to him. Or at least, attempting to do so; they were holding his chest with their hands, but it did little to stave off the flow.

"Give us a chance to live, you Autobot cowards!" one of the Decepticons shouted, "You'd toy with us when we're unarmed?"

"It's no more than you deserve!" the other Autobot guard sneered.

Shockwave stepped forward. "Open the gate." he ordered, in a calm, yet warning tone of voice.

The Autobots laughed at him, like he was a simple mad bot and nothing more. It didn't seem that they took his presence seriously at all. Everything appeared to be just a joke with them. They were completely oblivious to the TRUE danger.

"No."

"Open the _gate_. Right now."

"Frag off."

Shockwave looked back at Red Alert briefly before he turned back to the Autobot guards. So much for avoiding a fight. He quickly charged up his claws and drove them into one of the guard's chest. The other gave a shout and raised his weapon, but Shockwave used his other claws and grabbed the Autobot by the face. Red Alert turned away from the gruesome sight as he leaned forward and hissed at the terrified Autobot.

"Since it appears that you have an issue running your mouth, perhaps you shouldn't have one at all." Shockwave hissed.

Red Alert shook her head. "Shockwave, wait!"

He looked back at her, his optic flashing with menace at the interruption before she reached up. Her hand transforming into an electrical prod; she fired it a few times, casting a white glow over the terrified Autobot's face. He mumbled and shook his head rapidly.

"Now then, are you going to cooperate?" Red Alert asked.

The Autobot nodded with a whimper and held up the security key card. Red Alert took it and gestured to the stunned Decepticons watching.

"Move aside!" she ordered.

The Decepticons stepped back a few paces as she swiped the card over the scanner. The gate roared open and they immediately filed their way out. Some of them stared at her in disbelief, but were unable to find the proper words.

Shockwave gestured for them to go with a flirt of his head. "Report to Lord Megatron immediately in the Iacon court!" he commanded, "He will be waiting for you there." When they didn't move; no doubt preoccupied by the peculiar Autobot who helped them, Shockwave gave a gruff snort. "Do not worry about her. She is an ally. Now go!"

The Decepticons immediately crowded their way out of there, muttering and chattering about the "crazy Autobot medic". Shockwave looked down at the Autobot cowering in his grip and removed his claws from the dead one. He raised them near the Autobot guard's optics and the trapped bot whimpered in increased fright. Red Alert watched this scene with unease before looking up at Shockwave. Despite his lack of face, it was clear he wanted to kill the bot in the most gruesome way possible.

"Shockwave, don't do it!" she insisted, "He's not worth it."

Shockwave hesitated and looked back at her before he slowly removed his claws that were mere inches from the bot's optics. Though he would have enjoyed it, killing such a worthless fool proved to be useless after all when he thought about it. "She proves a valid point," he hissed, "You're not worth the stain on my servos..."

He removed his claws from the bot's face and the Autobot seemed relieved to be free.

Red Alert and Shockwave slowly made their way toward the next cell block, but the Autobot guard started laughing cruelly. "Hahah!" he spat, "Do you really think the two of you can be together in this madness? They'll never let it happen! You know it as well as I do!"

Shockwave and Red Alert looked back at him.

"You know it's true!" the guard hissed.

Shockwave looked down at Red Alert who seemed troubled. He however, was not concerned about the ramblings of a petty, Autobot prison guard. "Come, Red Alert," he said, calmly, "We're wasting time here."

She followed him deeper into the prison, listening to the horrible sounds of cruel laughter above.


	14. Love's Thanatos

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Love's Thanatos**

_Cybertron_

Iacon City was alive with activity as Autobots and Decepticons fought one another; laser fire ripped through holes in the walls, bodies fell in pools of Energon and screams of pain and death rang through the air.

The unit leader of the Decepticon troops let out a bellowing war cry, encouraging the rest of the warriors to charge through the walls. With a cry, the leader thrust his weapon in the air and the Decepticon army started charging forward, overwhelming the Autobot army attempting to regain control of the war. A shower of laser fire from the cannons of Fortess Maximus ripped through the troops as if they were nothing, but it seemed that the more that were killed, many more took their place.

Sentinel watched the scene grimly from the computer screen in the council hall. "PRIMUS!" he shouted, "Why are these Decepticons still alive?"

Alpha Trion looked disturbed, but resolute. "I don't think we can win this, this time," he said, softly, "They have us outnumbered."

"I'm not surrendering to anyone!" Sentinel bellowed, glowering fiercely at him. He was silent for a few moments before he snarled and looked to Cliffjumper impatiently. "And will someone PLEASE give me the status on the rear turret?"

"The rear turret can't take another hit, sir!" Cliffjumper cried.

"We need to get a handle on this situation and now!" Sentinel roared.

Meanwhile, Kaon was being torn apart by Autobots and Decepticons fighting for control as well. Through the mess, Red Alert and Shockwave attempted to fight their way to survive. Several Autobot troopers positioned atop buildings fired sniper's shots down at the Decepticons. The troopers below surged onto the walls and began to scale them as the Autobots drew their weapons in preparation for close combat.

Jetfire and Jetstorm streaked through the skies above.

"Brother!" Jetstorm called, "I'm on fifteen!"

"Haha! I'm close to twenty!" Jetfire taunted.

The twins soared overhead, spotting Red Alert and Shockwave below. They were taking cover in an alleyway.

"Brother, should we bring them in?" Jetfire asked.

"No. Rodimus Prime gave us his orders."

The twins sailed away through the sky and Red Alert watched them go. She gritted her teeth and scowled. "They saw us!" she snapped, "They were right there and they passed right over! What in Primus' name is wrong with them?"

"They saw us, but they were not about to help," Shockwave told her, shuddering and clutching his wounded arm, "After what you've chosen, you've become expendable to them."

Red Alert pondered the severity of this. Why did it come as such a surprise? Seeing things from the other side of the spectrum gave her a better understanding of her fellow Autobots and their motives. If anyone sympathized with Decepticons, they were cast out. So why should she have been treated any differently? It was disappointing that it had come to this; she could only have one or the other; Shockwave or her life on Cybertron. And she had chosen Shockwave. She didn't regret that, but she only wished that it didn't have to lead up to violence...

Shockwave looked down at her. "Red Alert..."

She frowned up at him. "Yeah?"

"How long have you been leaking Energon?" he demanded, his voice taking on a harder note.

Red Alert looked down and noticed that her side had been gushing Energon. She had attempted to ignore the painful sting and didn't even notice that she was leaking that badly. Through the chaos of battle around them, she had missed it entirely. She looked up at him and he was staring harshly down at her.

"I didn't notice," Red Alert told him, "We've been running and dodging fire through Kaon. I was behind you when we passed the bridge and a Decepticon sniper took a shot at me. I thought it missed, but I was wrong." Now that she noticed, the pain was much more intense than she thought. She gripped her side with one hand and looked up at him. "You've taken much more damage than I have and you're still functioning."

"I am only functioning at fifty four percent; yet I haven't been leaking Energon either."

Red Alert nodded her head. She was a medic and understood the severity of leaking precious fluids. But it wasn't as if she could stop in the middle of battle and get help for it. Primus, she couldn't even go to Hook. She was only functioning at thirty six percent.

"We need to keep moving," Red Alert told him. "I'll be fine."

Suddenly, an enormous explosion set off above them, blowing away a portion of the buildings. Rock, debris and bodies were thrown through the air. Then, a secondary explosion set off near them and they went flying into another building. The force knocked Red Alert offline and she vaguely remembered the sounds of screaming as her world darkened.

O

Rodimus was driven with a fury he never knew he had.

He could see from his position that Decepticon troops were charging toward Ironhide. With a fierce battle cry, he took a leap from his perch on a destroyed building and landed directly on a Decepticon. As they recovered, Rodimus delivered a volley of kicks to the Decepticon's chest. Before the infuriated mech could recover, Rodimus shot two arrows at his chest to which they detonated, obliterating the Decepticon's body completely.

Ironhide charged into the fray, hardening his armor and punching Decepticons in his path.

"Their numbers are dwindling!" Rodimus shouted, "Keep it up!"

Jetstorm and Jetfire passed overhead and transformed, just as Rodimus finished off the last Decepticon. "Rodimus Prime, sir!" Jetstorm said, "We have located field medical officer Red Alert in the streets of Kaon!"

Rodimus glowered at him. "And?"

"There was an explosion near her position, commander," Jetfire told him, worry in his vocals, "We should retrieve her if she has sustained damages. Her communications line has been cut off."

"No," Rodimus said, flatly, "She's made her choice. She's no longer one of us."

Jetfire and Jetstorm gasped softly in shock and looked at each other briefly.

"But...she is our friend, commander," Jetstorm argued, "She brought brother and me online."

Rodimus approached them and gave them a particularly frigid stare. "Let me remind you two of the rules set in place," he hissed, "Anyone who aids a Decepticon, be it Autobot 'friend' or not is a traitor. Traitors are to be either taken in or they will find their own death."

Even Ironhide looked shocked and smiled awkwardly, stepping forward. "Rodimus, please," he said, in a rather uncomfortable manner, "She made her choice, but that doesn't mean we should let her die out there alone."

"She's not alone. She's with that _waste of metal _Shockwave."

"But sir-"

Rodimus whirled on him menacingly. "But NOTHING!" he spat, "We're moving back to Iacon City. You can either follow me, or join the traitors too. It's your choice."

Jetfire and Jetstorm looked shocked by his words.

"Come on," Rodimus commanded, his voice harder now, "We have a war to win."

O

Red Alert felt agony through her entire body.

Her optics came online, shining blue light in the darkness. She looked around and noticed that she had been thrown into an empty building that was buried in rubble. It became difficult to move, but she struggled to do so regardless.

"Red Alert..."

She looked up and spotted Shockwave a few feet away, lying on his side. His single optic glowed bright in the darkness, but was flickering a few times.

"Come here," he hissed; his voice sounded so weak, so tired. She tried to crawl to him, but every single movement shot pain up her body. She worked through jagged rocks and debris with Shockwave weakly offering encouragement. " Keep moving. Come on, you're almost there..."

Red Alert crawled weakly until she finally reached his side. Most of his body was covered in cracks and burns and his legs looked like they had taken the brunt of the explosion. All around them, they could hear the sounds of screaming and moaning; a grim, terrible chorus of the tormented and the warring. Beyond the sounds, the only sights that they had was seemingly endless darkness, isolating them from the outside world.

Red Alert held onto him, her body shuddering in pain. Energon trickled down her open mouth. "They'll come for us..." she whispered, "They will..."

"No one's coming for us..." Shockwave argued weakly, "This was a one-way journey." He chuckled and it seemed to cause him physical pain. "The universe...is such a strange place... To have found you after such...a long time... Only to lose you again..."

Red Alert cupped the sides of his head and looked down at him with a desperate, agonized smile. "You'll never lose me."

Shockwave's claws lightly stroked her cheeks. "Why...Red Alert?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

"Why what?"

"Why do you love me?"

Red Alert lightly petted his head. "What's not there to love?" she whispered. "I love you because you are perfect to me. Nothing in the universe can ever change that. Nothing will ever change it, even if we die today, I'll love you even then."

Shockwave's optic flickered before his hands tightened their hold on her. "Jhiaxus was wise to speak then..." he said, "The love you gave me... The most beautiful thing I have ever experienced. And I do not see beauty in many things..."

Red Alert smiled tearfully. "Shockwave..."

Meanwhile, the Iacon halls were buzzing with argument between Sentinel and the council heads.

"She is an ally of ours!" Alpha Trion bellowed over the roar of the din, "To abandon an Autobot simply for the choice she made to love another is purely selfish on ANY account! What does that say about our integrity?"

Cliffjumper nodded his head in agreement. "He's right. We should find her!"

"Then let's go!" Alpha Trion said. No one moved and Alpha Trion frowned intensely, gesturing with his head. "Come on then!" No Autobot in the room would look at him. They simply stared down, unable to do anything. Alpha Trion scowled. "I don't understand a single one of you. What's the matter with you? It's our fellow Autobot! She saw something in Shockwave that we failed to see. Something pure that we never believed was there. I believe that if we want to honor Jhiaxus' last wish, we could see that too!"

Hot Shot suddenly sprinted from the crowd, joining Alpha Trion's side. "I'm coming with you, old timer!" he boasted.

Rodimus scoffed in disbelief. "Hot Shot?" he snapped.

Hot Shot grinned and held up his statis cuffs, spinning them on his finger. "Hey, look what I got." he boasted.

Alpha Trion looked pleased. "Excellent, young bot." He looked up at the group. "Will any one else be joining me?"

Jetfire and Jetstorm quickly rushed up with a simultaneous, "Yes, sir" from them. Rodimus snorted coldly with contempt. Many other Autobots joined Alpha Trion's side and once he was certain he had a good number, he looked at Rodimus expectantly.

"Rodimus?" he inquired.

Rodimus looked away.

Alpha Trion's smile melted and he looked stung. "Rodimus..."

"I'm going to remain," Rodimus snapped.

"I'm disappointed in you, Rodimus," Alpha Trion said, calmly; his optics were filled with sympathy and a little sadness, "I would have expected much better from you. Kup said that you were chosen for great things, that you were the purest of the pure; but it seems that he must have been mistaken. If you cannot overlook your blatant jealousy or your bitterness to save a _friend_, then I truly do fear for your future, young bot."

Hot Shot's optics widened. "Ouch."

Alpha Trion looked at the others. "Let's go."

Rodimus watched as the group left the Iacon halls and he stood there, a level of guilt and shame rising in him. He sighed and clasped a hand over his face, feeling like complete slag for the way he had behaved.

Finally, he relented and followed them.

O

Red Alert didn't even feel pain anymore.

They laid in the darkness of the building, listening to the eerie silence that had passed through. There was no longer any shooting, any moans or screams of death around them. In fact, there wasn't a single sound save for their weakening, water-sounding intakes of breath. They both felt closer to death now.

"It's quiet..." Red Alert whispered.

Shockwave sighed. "Yes..."

"Shockwave...I can't feel my body anymore," Red Alert said, her voice light.

Shockwave reached up his arm slowly, weakly to touch her face. "Look at me," he told her. She did. "I want you to know... Infiltrating the Elite Guard was the greatest mission I had ever taken. Not only did it bring me closer to winning the war, but it led me to you." He sucked in a sharp breath, having difficulty finding it. "It brought me to you... I am truly grateful for this. Truly... You have honored me more than... more than I deserve."

His voice was trembling from the severity of the damages he had taken, but his optic remained strong, locked on her. Energon had pooled between them from their wounds, forming a grizzly pool around their bodies.

"Shockwave..." she whispered, holding him with every ounce of strength she still had left. "Let me hear it... Please..."

His grip tightened on her.

"Please...just once...Just this once..." she begged, her optics nearly closing.

Shockwave pressed his helm close to hers and interlaced their fingers together. He struggled to find the words and hissed softly before he finally managed to speak them. "I love you, Red Alert..."

Her optics flickered with warmth and a weak smile lit her lips. She appeared to be staring through him now. "See you...soon." she whispered.

And the two of them laid there in their final hours, holding one another.

O

The first thing she saw was endless light.

Red Alert opened her optics and frowned, blinking passed the intensity of the sight. She winced and sat up, noticing that there was nothing around save for a seemingly eternal brightness. She frowned and struggled to stand. Finally, she could see the violet, familiar shape of Shockwave standing from a spot not too far away. She rushed up to him and noticed that he was no longer damaged or battered, but appeared to be in perfect condition.

"Shockwave!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.

Shockwave held her close.

"Where are we?" she wondered, looking around.

Someone cleared their throat and the two turned, seeing Jhiaxus standing there now, his arms behind his back. He was smiling and Red Alert was shocked to see that he possessed no scars, no Decepticon sigil and appeared to shine like a newborn sparkling. She couldn't lie that he looked beautiful.

"Hello, younglings," he said, "My brave friends. How far you've come."

"Jhiaxus, you're alive?" Red Alert exclaimed.

He chuckled gently. "No."

"So we're..." Red Alert began. "Really dead?"

"Yes." Jhiaxus said, "Though I wonder why this should be such a shock. You two were at death's door long before you crawled your way in that building. But you found one another here, in the next life. It is rather unfortunate, but not many can boast that here."

Red Alert smiled. "So you found her?"

Jhiaxus was almost at tears and he smiled, nodding. "Yes, I have."

"Where do we go from here, Jhiaxus?" Shockwave asked.

Jhiaxus turned to him and chuckled. "You move on, my boy."

They started forward.

"Shockwave, your spark mother is here as well," Jhiaxus told him, "I believe the two of you have some catching up to do."

Red Alert smiled up at Shockwave. "It's okay. We have plenty of time."

She took his hand and they made their way to eternity.

Together.

O

Rodimus was horrified by the sight of the Autobots returning to Iacon the following morning with the bodies of Shockwave and Red Alert. He stared down at the lifeless form of his friend in horror and anguish.

Alpha Trion looked at the watching Autobots, grief in his optics.

"Two great warriors have passed on this day," he said, "Let us honor them in the days of peace. Let us also remember Jhiaxus' last wish. We will acknowledge them for what the were, what they sacrificed, not for what we wanted out of them. Not for acclaim, not for approval, but, the simple truth of that recognition. This day does not belong to us, Autobots. But to those who have died fighting for what they loved, what they honored and what they believed in."

He looked at Rodimus, who was kneeling before Red Alert's body, holding her hand to his face. His head was hung in despair.

"There are some things that time cannot mend. Some pains that may cut too deep," Alpha Trio continued, "But we will move on. We will adapt. And we will most certainly look to changing our ways. From this day forward, we will rebuild this world that we may share in the days of peace."

Despite hesitation, there was a mutual agreement among them.

Perhaps a change would definitely be for the best.

Primus knew it was.


	15. Epilogue

**Never Will Be**

**Disclaimer: **I was astounded by how much love Never Was had received on deviantart, as evidenced by the artwork done by **Lecidre**; two pieces of work entitled **Dream of a Bright Tomorrow** and **Farewell. **I'll admit, I had a sequel planned for the longest time, but never had a chance to actually write it. But because so many asked me for it, I was persuaded to do so. LOL. Also, listen to the song, "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" by Rihanna and Eminem after reading this. You'll see how it ties well.

_"The strongest have their moments of fatigue"_

_-_Friedrich Nietzsche

_"I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies."_

-Pietro Aretino

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

"_Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave..." _

-Overlord, Last Stand of the Wreckers

**Epilogue**

_Cybertron_

_Several Solar Cycles Later_

Rodimus was sitting at his desk, working on his reports.

Things had returned to normal at Cybertron and even Decepticons and Autobots from New Lucifer made their way to Cybertron again. After Alpha Trion and the council had passed a new law prohibiting any mistreatment of Decepticons who refused to fight. It definitely earned a lot of favor from the masses. While there were some who didn't believe that Decepticons should be treated any better, most of the planet actually supported it.

Alpha Trion had also commissioned a statue to be placed in the Iacon Hall of Records of Jhiaxus in honor of his brave sacrifice. Many were against it, but the council had unanimously decided that there was none more deserving.

But Rodimus couldn't forget...

He couldn't forget the last thing he had said to Red Alert and how he had treated her. He couldn't forgive himself for what he had done. If he had gone out to find her like Jetfire and Jetstorm suggested, she would probably still be alive.

He stopped typing long enough to cup his head and utter a soft sound of despair. He rarely ever wept for anything in his life, but with his guilt and shame eating away at him, he couldn't help it and wept in his hands.

Finally, after a long moment of crying, Rodimus fell into recharge and he found himself dreaming.

Gentle hands placed themselves on Rodimus' back and he quickly jolted up, looking into Red Alert's smiling face.

"R-Red Alert?" he gasped.

She smiled gently. "Hello, Rodimus."

Rodimus stared at her with despair. "Can you ever forgive me?" he whispered, leaning forward and putting his arms around her.

She chuckled and nodded, parting from him after a few pats on his head. "I know, Rodimus," she said, "I think you just need to stop beating yourself up about my death and move on. I forgive you for what happened."

Rodimus sniffed a bit and looked somewhat better now that he heard that. "W-Was there any pain?" he asked, carefully.

"Not at all." Red Alert told him, "After a while, it was almost like sleeping."

Rodimus smiled tearfully. "And you're happy?"

"I am. More than you know."

"I'm glad," Rodimus said; his features turned grim again, "I should never have said those things and tried to kill Shockwave. You love him and I should have been more attentive to your feelings and not my own foolish pride."

"You're learning as you go," Red Alert replied, "Though I didn't exactly like it, but everyone makes mistakes. You should just move on and live your life."

Rodimus nodded his head.

"Farewell Rodimus," Red Alert told him, smiling brightly. She turned but paused and looked back at him. "Oh, before I forget; tell Hot Shot I've been watching him and I think he needs to stay out of trouble. That'll give him a good scare."

Rodimus laughed tearfully at that. "I will."

She turned and finally disappeared into a bright light glowing beside his desk. She seemed to walk into the arms of someone he couldn't see-but knew was Shockwave-and they disappeared into the light together.

Finally, Rodimus awoke from sleep with a start. He looked around his office briefly before sighing and leaning back in his chair.

After a moment of thinking what he should be doing next, he stood up and decided to do what she told him.

He decided to live his life again.

THE END


End file.
